Village folk-tales of Ceylon ..

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PROM THE

SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND

^ THE GIFT OF

1891

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VILLAGE FOLK-TALES
OF CEYLON

VILLAGE FOLK-TALES
OF CEYLON

Vol. I

Collected and Translated hy

H. PARKER

Late of the Irrigation Department, Ceylon

LONDON

LUZAC & CO

Publishers to the India Office

1910

[All Rights Reserved}

Bdtles & Tahkbe

Tub Selwood Printing Works

Frome and London

CONTENTS

Introduction

FAGE

I

PART I.

STORIES OF THE CULTIVATING CASTE
AND VAEDDAS.

The Making of the Great Earth .

The Sun, the Moon, and Great !Paddy

The Story of Senasura .

The Glass Princess .

The Frog Prince

The Millet Trader .

The Turtle Dove

The Prince and the Princess

Tamarind Tikka

Matalange Loku-Appu

The White Turtle .

The Black Storks' Girl .

The Golden Kaekiri Fruit

The Four Deaf Persons .

The Prince and the Yaka

How A Yaka and a Man fought

Concerning a Man and Two Yakas

1 8 The Three Questions

19 The Faithless Princess .
The Prince who did not go to School
Nagul-Munna .....
The KuLt-BAKA Flowers
Kurulu-gama Appu, the Soothsayer

V

NO.

I
2
3
4
5
6

7

8

9
10
II
12
13
14
15
16

17

20
21
22
23

47
52
54
57
67
72
79
93
100
108

"3
120
129
134
137
146
148
150
157
160
169

173
179

VI

CONTENTS

NO.

24 How A Prince was chased by a YaksanI

25 The Wicked King .

26 The Kitul Seeds

27 The Speaking Horse

28 The Female Quail .

29 The Pied Robin

30 The Jackal and the Hare

31 The Leopard and the Mouse-deer

32 The Crocodile's Wedding

33 The Gamarala's Cakes

34 The Kinnara and the Parrots

35 How a Jackal settled a Lawsuit

36 The Jackal and the Turtle .

37 The Lion and the TurtlS;

PAGE

i85
191
197
199
201
206
209

213
216
219
224
228

234
241

PART II.

STORIES OF THE LOWER CASTES.

38 The Monkey and the Weaver-Bird {Potter) . . 247

39 The Jackal DevatawA (Washerman) . . . 249

STORIES OF THE TOM-TOM BEATERS.

The Foolishness of Tom-tom Beaters . . . 252

40 A Kadambawa Man's Journey to Puttalam . . 253

41 The Kadambawa Men and the Hares . . -255

42 The Kadambawa Men and the Mouse-deer . . 256

43 The Kadambawa Men and the Bush . . . 257

44 How the Kadambawa Men counted Themselves . 258

45 The Kadambawa Men and the Dream . . . 260

46 The Four Tom-tom Beaters 262

47 The Golden Tree 264

48 The Seven Princesses 270

49 Mr. Janel SiNiiA 278

50 The Nikini Story 284

CONTENTS

Vll

NO.

51

52

53
54
55
56

The Aet-kanda Leniya
The Wimali Story .
The Pots of Oil
The Mouse Maiden .

SiGIRIS SiNNO, THE GlANT

The Proud Jackal .

STORIES OF THE DURAYAS

57 The Seven Robbers .

58 The Stupid Boy

59 The Gamarala and the Washerman

60 The Two Thieves

61 The Margosa Tree .

62 The Gamarala's Foolish Son .

63 The Jackal's Judgment .

64 The Heron and the Crab

65 The Jackal and the Brahmana

66 The Cat who guarded the Precepts

67 The Lizard and the Leopard .

68 The Lion and the Jackal

STORIES OF THE RODIYAS.

69 The Roll of Cotton

70 The Jackal and the Leopard .

71 How THE Boars killed the Rakshasa

72 The Grateful Jackal

STORIES OF THE KINNARAS

73 Concerning a Monk and a Yaka

74 The Three Suitors .

75 The Crocodile and the Jackal
Index .....

page
291
302

304
308
312
316

317
319
322

330
334
336
339
342
347
349
355
359

364
367
370
373

375
378
380

383

INTRODUCTION

When the forest and jungle of north-central or north-
western Ceylon is viewed from the upper part of a hill of
considerable height, it has the appearance of a dark green
sea, across which, if there be any wind, waves closely
resembling those of the ocean roll along in parallel lines as
the swaying tree tops bend under the gusts of the breeze.
As clouds pass between it and the sun their shadows of
darker green follow each other over this seemingly illimitable
ocean. The undulations of the ground are lost ; all appears
to be at one general level, except that here and there a
little island is visible where a low rocky mound succeeds in
raising its head above the verdant waves.

Any hills of lower elevation than our post of observation
look Strangely dwarfed, while higher ones behind us stand
out more prominently than ever. In the immediate neigh-
bourhood, perhaps glimpses may be obtained of one or two
pale green rice fields, contrasting with the darker foliage
around them, and of the light blue reflection of the sky in
the water of a village tank ; but further away there is no
break in the uniformity of the forest sea. No houses are
to be seen nor sounds heard, and the visible coimtry appears
to be an tminhabited silent wilderness of vegetation.

Let us descend from such an elevated post, and proceed
to examine the depths of the green ocean at closer quarters.
I shall assume that the reader is accompanying me on a
visit to a Kandian village, where we can learn something
of the mode of life and the ideas of the dwellers in this
jungle, and' become acquainted with some of the animals
who are introduced into the stories which they relate.

We leave the dusty main roads, and follow a winding

1 B

a INTRODUCTION

village path, never straight for a hundred yards except by
accident — not such a path as was constantly encountered
thirty or more years ago, on which the overhanging thorny
bushes often made it necessary to bend low or run the
risk of having one's clothes torn, but a track flanked with
grass, having the bushes completely cleared away for a
width of twelve feet.

For a long distance we journey under an exhausting,
pitiless, brazen sun, which during all the middle part of
the day the traveller feels but never sees — never directing
his gaze towards its blinding glare. The heat is reflected
from the unsheltered path. Shut out from the cooling
breath of the wind, we have on each side only closely inter-
laced jungle, a tangled growth, consisting chiefly of leafy
thorns and creepers from ten to fifteen feet high, inter-
spersed at varying intervals with a few large trees. This
is the wild growth that has sprung up on the sites of aban-
doned chenas or jungle clearings, and will be cut down again
for them from five to seven years afterwards.

An occasional recent example of such a clearing may be
passed, having a few large surviving scorched trees, and
several smaller ones, interspersed among the growing crop
of green millet. Round this a rough fence made by laying
sticks and blackened sapling trunks horizontally between
pairs of crooked posts — part of the unconsumed remains
after the cut and dried up bushes had been burnt — protects
the crop from the intrusion of deer and pigs and buffaloes.

Near the middle of the clearing, where two young trees
grow in proximity, two thin posts have been fixed in the
ground, and between these four supports a floor of sticks
has been constructed at a height of ten or twelve feet above
the ground, reached by a rough stick ladder with rungs
two feet apart, and having a thatched roof overhead, and a
flimsy wall of sticks, interwoven with leafy twigs or grass
on the windward side. A thin floor of earth, watered and
beaten until it became hard, permits a small fire of sticks
to be made in the shelter if the-nocturnal air be chilly. In
this soUtary watch-hut a man, or sometimes two, sit or
lie nightly, in order to drive away intruding animals that

INTRODUCTION 3

may successfully evade or break through the protecting
fence, and feed on the crop.

In such clearings are cultivated chiefly millet of different
sorts, or edible grasses, sesame, and a small pulse called mun ;
while in the richer s6il around some scattered conical
brown anthills are planted maize, pumpkins, or red chillies,
and a few small cucumbers called kaekiri, bearing yellow
or reddish fruit some six inches long. CUmbing up two
or three of the smaller trees are to be seen gourds, with
their curious, hanging, pale, bottle-shaped fruit.

Along the path through the chena jungle there are not
many signs of life. A Monitor Lizard or " Iguana," about
four feet long, which we frighten as it was licking up ants
and other insects on the roadside with its extensile thin
tongue, scurries off quickly, and disappears down a hole
in the side of an anthill. Over the jungle come the slow
monotonous calls, " Tok, tok, tok, tok," of a small
Barbet, perched on the topmost twig of one of the higher
trees, jerking its body to the right and left as it repeats its
single note. A Woodpecker crosses the path with a scream-
ing cry, three times repeated, and a few other birds may
appear at intervals, but otherwise there is not much to
break the sameness.

Then, if one be lucky, comes a tract of the original forest
that has escaped the chena clearer's destructive bill-hook
and fires, in which is immediately experienced the welcome
relief afforded by the delightful cool shade cast by the forest
trees of many species which stretch high above the lower
bushes. This is the home of the Elephant, traces of which
are observed in the wide footprints and an occasional
broken-down sapling or fractured branch. A slightly
leaning tree on the side of the path has tempted one to rub
his back on it, and lower down are the scratches left by a
Leopard's claws, as he scraped them on it like a cat.

As we pass along the leaf-strewn way, the loud hoarse
cry, " Ho, ho," of the large grey Monkeys {Semnopithecus
priamus) whom we startle, resounds through the trees.
They cease to feed on the succulent young leaves, and
shake the rustling branches in their bold leaps among the

4 INTRODUCTION

higher ones. This is soon followed by a sudden stillness
as they mysteriously conceal themselves, vanishing as
though by magic among the denser foliage.

Bird calls unfamiUar to a stranger are heard, especially
the short cry of two notes, rather than the crow, of the
Jungle-cock — ^the wild game-fowl of Ceylon, — ^the sheep-like
bleats of the Lesser Hombill, sometimes the rich notes of
the Crested Drongo, or the often reiterated whistle, " To
meet ye'-ou," of the Whistling Babbler. A charming
Ground Dove that was picking up seeds on the path, flies
off quickly down the path, and tm-ns suddenly through the
bushes. A few white or brown or striped Butterflies, and
sometimes the lovely, large, dark velvety-green or steely
blue Omithoptera, flit about. A few sharp notes, uttered
as a small timid creature, little bigger than a hare, darts
off under the bushes, tell us that we have startled a little
Mouse-deer, Mlminnd. These fragile-looking animals always
stand on tiptoe, appearing exactly, as Mr. R. A. Stemdale
expressed it in his work, The Mammalia of India, " as if a
puff of wind would blow them away." But as a rule, there
is not much animal life noticeable even in these forests,
unless one can spare time to search for it.

Another patch of the chena jungle succeeds the forest,
and then the path reaches one end of the embankment of a
village tank or reservoir, a shallow sheet of water varjmig
in size from two or three acres to more than one himdred,
but commonly from twenty to fifty in area. The trim,
earthen, grass-sloped embankment, nearly straight, from
an eighth of a mile to half a mile long, from nine to sixteen
feet high, and six feet wide on the top, rises a few feet
above the water level.

In its contrast with the parched and heated ground
along which we have come, the scene always appears strik-
ingly beautiful. There are few fairer spots on the earth
than some of the village tanks when they are nearly full of
water. Here we may sit in the cool shelter of an umbrageous
tree, and contemplate nature in its most idyUic aspect.
The busy world, with its turmoil and stress, its noisy fac-
tories and clanging machinery, its hurr5dng railway trains

INTRODUCTION 5

and motor-cars, its crowded cities full of an artificial and
unhealthy existence, has disappeared, as though it had
been merely a fantastic vision of the night. Here all is
peace : an uneventful calm that has survived the changes
of perhaps two thousand years, and that may be unaltered
in another two thousand. One may wonder if the fevered
life of the present western civilisation will last as long, or
will have burnt itself out, and been swept away like that
of the dead civilisations that preceded it.

Abandoning these day dreams, which the seclusion of
the site induces, we look around us. At both sides of
the tank and along the outer toe of the embankment grow
lofty trees, with grey trunks often strengthfened by wide
buttresses, which are thrown out so as to afford their sup-
port in the direction in which it is chiefly needed^ If a
branch become imduly expanded on one side of the tree,
always that on which it receives the rays of the sun, so as
to displace the centre of gravity, the trunk at once pro-
ceeds to develop these thin triangular buttresses under it,
wide at the base, and extending ten or fifteen feet upward.
As though designed by an engineer, there are usually two
which act as struts, and support the trunk below the over-
weighted branch ; and on the opposite side a broader
one which acts as a tie, and assists in holding back the
stem.

There is no lack of varied forms of animal life here.
Often a party of brown Monkeys who have come to drink
at the tank are to be seen in some of the trees, sitting quietly
inspecting the visitors, or walking leisurely along the
branches, a few of the females carrying under their bodies
a young one tightly clutching them.

In many tanks, a low grey or dark-stained rock in the
water affords a favourite basking ground for the sluggish
muddy-brown Crocodiles that make their home in all but
a few of the smallest of these tanks. They he on it Hke
stranded logs, exposed to the sun's rays, often with wide-
open mouths, as though overcome by the heat, from which,
however, they make no effort to escape.

A few black Cormorants and a white Egret or two may

6 INTRODUCTION

also be there, resting on another part of the rock ; and
close to the water even one or two httle Black Tank Turtles,
but not the edible White Tank Turtle {Kiri-ibbd), which
is much less common. On a stump in the water is usually
perched a Darter, a bird that can outswim its fishy prey,
with long snake-like neck, drying its expanded wings under
the fiery tropical rays. Its mate will be immersed in the
water, in which it swims with only its head and neck visible
above the surface.

Near the upper margin of the tank wades, with long
deliberate strides, a lanky Great White Egret {Herodias
alba), its neck outstretched in advance, and head held ready
for a rapid spear-hke thrust of its long tapering bill at any
frog or small fish incautious enough to remain within its
fatal reach. Nearer the edge of the shallowest water Lesser
Egrets step more hurriedly in search of frogs, and often
chase them as they rush spluttering along its surface.

At the larger tanks the hoarse scream of a White-tailed
Fishing Eagle (Polioaetus ichthy actus), perched on one of
the higher branches of a tall tree overhanging the water,
resounds across the open space, without frightening a flock
of reddish-brown Whisthng Teal that float motionless
near some lotus leaves, watching the human intruders,
who monopolise all their attention.

As we proceed along the embankment, we disturb some
of the large Frogs that were sunning themselves on it, or
catching flies near the edge of the water, and that plunge
headlong into it with extended hind legs.

We now perceive on the low side of the tank a stretch of
fields, a couple of hundred yards, a quarter of a mile, or
half a mile long, or even more, in which the clear uniform
light green sheet of the paddy or growing rice affords a
pleasant relief after the uninteresting chena jungle. A
long group of feathery-fronded Coconut trees near the tank,
fringing the far side of the field, indicates that we are close
to a Kandian village. The thatched grey roofs of some
of the houses are soon distinguishable below the palms,
nearly concealed among the plantain trees and other bushes
growing about them. Above these stand out several tall,

INTRODUCTION 7

deep green, pointed-leaved Mango trees, and higher still a
few wide-spreading Tamarinds and slender Halmilla trees.

Before we reach them, our attention is again arrested
by the repeated mewing calls of the light-coloured Jacanas
{Hydrophasianus cMrurgus), with pheasant-like tails and
enormously lengthened toes, which distribute their weight
over a wide area. This enables them to walk on the round
floating leaves of the lotus plants that cover one portion
of the tank, picking unwary insects out of the water.

Near the side of the tank are to be seen the upper parts
of the dark heads of buffaloes, of which the bodies are
immersed, as they lazily chew the cud. A White Egret
is perched on one whose back appears above the water.
At intervals a head disappears quietly below the surface,
and the dense crowd of small flies that had settled on it is
driven to flight, only to return once more as soon as it
rises again.

In the shallower water near them, and nearly stationary,
or moving a few feet only at a time, stands a small silent
Pond Heron {Ardeola grayi), avoiding observation as much
as possible. Its shoulders are raised, and its head is drawn
down, so that it appears to have no neck ; its dorsal plumes
spread over the closed wings and completely hide them.
When it stands still in this, its usual, attitude it is almost
unnoticeable among the aquatic weeds. On our approach
it flies off with a croak, transformed into a bird displa5dng
broad white wings and a long thin neck. It is far from
being the voracious bird that a well-known tale represents
it to be. ,

A Chestnut Bittern {Ardetta cinnamomed) , that had sta-
tioned itself at the foot of the embankment, flits silently
across the water, and a Blue or Pied Kingfisher is seen
poising itself with down-turned bill, over a shoal of small
fishes, on which it droips unexpectedly with a sudden splash,
and then wings its way to another position where others
have been detected.

On a patch of grass at the upper side of the tank we observe
a couple of white-necked Black Storks {Ciconia leucocephala)
promenading sedately in search of luckless frogs, but main-

8 INTRODUCTION

taining a careful watch for human enemies who may be
tempted to endeavour to approach within gunshot.

Near this end of the embankment, a party of village
women who have brought their large, narrow-mouthed,
brown earthen pots or " chatties " for water, holding
them on their hips by passing an arm round the neck, will
probably take to flight on seeing the white strangers, or
otherwise stand as far off the path as the space permits,
until they pass. A cry of rapidly shouted words is re-
peated through the village, announcing the arrival of
" gentlemen," and soon some of the men emerge, and after
saluting us with hands raised to the chest and palms touching
each other, guide us into it.

On our way we pass by single houses or groups of two or
three, built in the midst of each httle paddock, fifty or one
hundred feet wide or more, often with a very slight fence
around it, of the scattered area under the coconut palms
which forms the gardens of the Kandian village. Decently
clad men and women come out of their mud-walled and
often whitewashed dwellings' to stare at the strangers,
as well as children of all sizes, in varying stages of scanty
clothing, from a short piece of white calico which reaches
from the waist to the ankles, down to its vanishing point. The
men wear a plain white cloth from the waist to the ankles.
The women have a white or coloured one about twelve feet
long, one end passing from the waist over the front of the
figure, with the corner thrown over the right shoulder^
and hanging down behind as far as the waist ; the rest of
the cloth is wrapped twice roimd the lower part of the
figure, from the waist downwards. When they visit other
villages many of the people of both sexes wear white jackets ;
in the women's jackets the sleeves are gathered and puffed
out at the shoulder, and reach only to the elbow, and there
is a wide, sometimes frilled, double collar.

Our guides lead us on until we reach a dwelling possibly
a little more carefully constructed than the others, close
to which is a thatched, open, rectangular shed, about
twelve feet long by nine feet wide, with its roof resting on
plain round wooden posts. Its raised earthen floor is

INTRODUCTION 9

hastily swept, a heavy wooden mortar cut out of a piece
of tree trunk, and used for pounding rice in order to remove
the skin, is rolled away, and the shed is then ready for our
temporary occupation.

This is a maduwa, or shed erected for travellers and
strangers, as well as for the general use of the owner, in which
the women may plait mats, or clean paddy or rice in the
wooden mortar, with a long wooden pestle having an iron
ring round the lower end. Here also the man's friends may
sit and chat, and chew the leaf of the Betel vine with broken-
up bits of the nut of the Areka Palm, and a little lime, and a
fragment of tobacco leaf, while they discuss the state of
the crops, or the local news.

When such a shed is erected on the side of a path for
public use, it may have, but rarely, half walls four feet high ;
or the posts may be tenoned into a rectangle of substantial
squared logs that are halved into each other at the angles,
where they rest upon large stones, so as to be clear of the
ground, and thus partly protected from attacks by white
ants. The squared beams act as seats for the tired passer-by.

At the end of the maduwa in the village there is sometimes
a very small room of the same width, in which is stored
millet or pulse in bags, or ash-pumpkins, together with a
few articles required about the house, such as surplus grass
mats, and fiat winnowing baskets. Under the roof of the
maduwa, above the cross-beams and some sticks laid on
them, will be the owner's Uttle plough, and board for levelling
the' mud of the rice field before sowing, and some short
coils of rope made from the twisted inner bark of tough
creepers, and one or two fish creels.

When there is no suitable shed of this kind for the visitor,
a hut, usually one belonging to the village headman, is
swept out and temporarily given up to our use. If infor-
mation of the coming visit had been sent beforehand, the
hut or shed would have been provided with a ceiling made
of lengths of white calico borrowed from the family washer-
man, and perhaps the walls also would have been hung
with others, sometimes including such coloured ones as he
had washed for some of the villagers.

lo INTRODUCTION

While food is being prepared by our servants in a small
shed or kitchen dose to the house, we stroll through the
village, and observe as we go that all the houses Ue east
and west, or north and south, and are thatched with straw
or plaited Coconut leaves. They are all rectangular,
usually eight or nine feet wide and some twelve feet long,
and are raised a couple of feet from the ground, on a solid
earthen foundation. Each one has a low verandah, two
feet six inches or three feet wide, along the front side, and
one heavy door of adzed or sawn timber near the middle ;
but there is very rarely a window, and even then only one
of the smallest size.

Near the end of the house, and within sight of the veranda,
there are one or two round corn stores, considerably wider
at the top than at the base, with conical thatched roofs.
They rest upon cross sticks placed upon four horizontal
adzed logs, which are supported by four small rough blocks
of stone at the corners. Their walls are made of a wicker
frame hung from four or five durable posts set in the ground,
which are usually the heart wood of trees that are not
eaten by white ants. The upper part of the wicker frame
is firmly tied to the tops of these, and the whole wicker work
is then thickly overlaid and stiffened by successive coatings
of mixed clay and sand, on which, as on all the walls and
floor of the dwelling house, there is placed a thin surface
wash of cow-dung.

These corn stores contain the household supply of paddy
or millet. They are entered only by raising the loose conical
roof on one side by a long prop, and getting inside by
means of a rough ladder, at the opening thus made, over
the top of the wall, which rises eight or nine feet above the
ground. Sometimes, but rarely in the northern Kandian
districts, a small rectangular hut is used as a com store,
the entrance in that case being made through a doorway
in the middle of one side.

The open ground along the front of the house is clean,
and free from grass and weeds, and is swept every morning.
In this space, called the midula, there is a stand of peeled
sticks supported on thin posts, and having a stick platform

INTRODUCTION ii

about four feet, or a little more, in length and two feet
in width, raised three feet from the ground, with often
another similar platform below it. On these are laid, after
being washed, the blackened earthenware cooking pots of
the house, and spoons made of segments of coconut shell
with long wooden handles, which are used with them.

In the little kitchen at the end of the house, with a lean-
to roof, the hearths or fire-places called Ufa are formed of
three round stones fixed on the ground, about eight inches
apart, on which are set the cooking pots, over a fire of dry
sticks. Sometimes a separate small shed is built as a
kitchen, but often the cooking is done inside the single
apartment of the house, at one end of it.

In each garden are a number of Coconut trees, some
thin Halmilla trees, and often a Mango tree, or a dark-
leaved Jak tree, with its enormous light green fruit hanging
on pedicles from the trunk or larger branches, as well as a
Lime tree, and four or five clumps of Plantain stems nearer
the dwelling. Round the base of one or two of the Coco-
nuts or Halmilla trees are piled on end long bundles of fire-
wood, nearly two feet thick and six or eight feet, long,
the unconsumed sticks from the chena^ collected by the
women, tied round with creepers, and carried home on
their heads. Climbing up a small tree in front of the
house is a fine Betel vine, which is watered every day
during the dry weather. We notice that a bleached skull
of a bull is fixed among the leaves to guard the creeper
from the unlucky glance of the " Evil Eye," which might
cause its premature decay. In the damper ground adjoining
the rice field a few slender Areka palms are growing, with
their clusters of small fruit hanging below their leafy crowns.

On the outer side of the village, near the embankment
of the tank, there are the large, rough-stemmed Tamarind
trees that we noticed as we came. A nimiber of separate
thin posts are fixed in the bare ground below them, to
which are tethered a few small Buffalo calves, which will
be joined by their mothers at dusk, after their bath in the
tank is finished.

Further on, there is a small enclosure protected by a

12 INTRODUCTION

stick fence, roirnd which a few thorns are placed. At the
entrance, the halves of a split log, about nine inches wide,
form gate posts ; and five moveable horizontal bars pass
easily through holes cut through them, a few loose thorns
being rolled against them when the enclosure is shut up at
night. This is a cattle-fold, or gala, into which the little
harmless black humped cattle are driven each evening by
some boys, with the repeated long-drawn cry, Gale, " Into
the fold." In some districts tobacco or chillies will be
planted on this well-manured plot of ground in the following
spring, a new cattle fold being then made.

On our return to the shed we see that our host's wife has
cooked his evening meal of boiled rice and vegetable curry,
with a bit of sun-dried fish as a flavouring, these last being
often made burning hot with red chillies. She serves it
in the raised veranda to him and a relative who has come
from a distant village, after giving them water for rinsing
out their mouths. Both sit or " squat " on their heels,
and convey the food to their mouths with their right hands,
out of the shallow, rather wide basins that act as plates.
Where the supply of such household articles runs short,
leaf plates made of a piece of plantain leaf, or two or three
halmilla leaves pinned together, are used. When they
have finished the meal, and have rinsed their right hands
and drunk water — which is never taken while eating —
and have been served with a chew of betel leaf and its
accompaniments, the wife eats the remains of the meal
alone, inside the house. If she and her husband were alone
they would take it together, the husband being first served.

The men now sit on mats spread in the narrow veranda,
where a Uttle oil lamp is perhaps hung, and the woman,
after throwing out the remains of the food for the dog,
and washing the basins and cooking utensils, and arranging
them on their stand, joins the party, and shares in the
evening's conversation. Sometimes, however, .she finds
it necessary to pound some paddy until bed-time, in order
to remove the husk, in readiness for the meals of the fol-
lowing day ; or millet or rice may require grinding into
flour in the stone quern.

INTRODUCTION 13

If some intimate village friends were there, this would
be the time when, after discussing the events of the day,
or making arrangements for the morrow, a member of the
party might finish the evening's chat by relating one of the
familiar old stories of which translations appear in this
book.

In the end the woman retires, the visitor stretches him-
self on his grass mat in the veranda, and the host extin-
guishes the lamp, if one had been lit, and enters the single
room of his house. On the next night it will be his turn
to occupy the watch-hut at the chena, where his partner is
sitting now.

All take care to lie, if possible, in an east and west direc-
tion, and on no account with their heads to the south.
This is the abode of Yama, the god of death, while the north
is the quarter inhabited by demons. These directions
are therefore exposed to evil influences which might affect
the sleeper, and perhaps cause such unlucky omens as evil
dreams.

The dog curls himself on the ground at the front of the
house, the cat wanders off to join some village cronies, and
all is silent in the village, except the rustling of the Coconut
fronds overhead, the monotonous call, " Wuk ; chok-cho-
tok," uttered by a small owl in one of the higher trees, and
the more distant chorus of the frogs in the adjoining rice
field.

Now and again we' hear at some villages the long-drawn,
human-like cry, " H06, hoo, hoo," of a large Wood-Owl
{Syrnium indranee), that is flsdng round high in the air,
and answering its distant mate. It is a weird unearthly
sound, which is always firmly believed by the villagers to
be uttered by demons, as will be noticed in some of the
stories.

The earliest cry of the morning is the deep booming note,
three or four times repeated, of the large Ground Cuckoo
{Centrococcyx rufipennis), which is heard soon after dawn
appears. Our host's wife is at work before daylight, scrap-
ing into shreds the kernel of a half coconut, and preparing
some milk-rice — rice boiled in milk made by squeezing

14 INTRODUCTION

grated coconut in water until the latter assumes the colour
of milk.

By sun-rise, the Crows of the village are astir, and the
Parrakeets, commonly called " Parrots " in the East, which
have been sleeping in the coconut trees, fly away in parties
in search of food.

The notes of the double kettle-drum at a neighbouring
wihdra, or Buddhist temple, consisting of three deep-toned
strokes at short intervals, followed by five rapid blows on
a higher key, once repeated, the whole series being many
times sounded, now announce to the villagers within hearing
that this is one of the four Poya days of the month, the
Buddhist Sabbath, kept at each of the quarters of the moon.

About an hour later, our host's wife is joined by a party
of eight or ten women, and one or two men, all dressed in
clean white clothes. They proceed to the temple, each
carrying in a small bowl a present of milk-rice and a few
cakes, covered with a white cloth. There they chant
three times, after the resident monk, the Buddhist creed,
"I go to the Buddha-refuge, I go to the Faith-refuge, I
go to the Community (of Monks)-refuge " ; this is followed
by some more stanzas in the ancient language, Pali, after
which they return, and resume the ordinary occupations
of the day.

Our host is about to leave his room after his night's
rest, when the chirp of a little pale-coloured House Lizard
on the wall causes him to turn back suddenly, in order to
avoid the evil influences against which the wise Lizard had
uttered its warning voice. He occupies himself in the
house for a short time longer, and then, at a luckier moment,
makes his appearance afresh, taking care to step over the
threshold with the right foot first.

He is cheered by finding that nothing obstructs his way
in the least after he comes out, and that we are the first
living beings on which his gaze rests. To begin the d^y
by seeing first a person of superior status is a lucky omen
of the favourable character of the rest of the day, and one
with which he is not often blessed. We increase the aus-
picious impression by a few judicious friendly remarks ;

INTRODUCTION 15

but are careful not to offer any decided praise regarding
any of his possessions, since we are aware of his opinion
that one never knows if such sayings may not have a reverse
effect through the malevolence of jealous evil spirits, There
is an Evil Mouth, as well as an Evil Eye.

A man or two, and a few boys, come from the adjoining
houses to watch our doings, from the open space in front
of the house, or the veranda ; but all turn their faces away
and ignore us from the moment when we sit down to our
" early tea," and until it is finished. This is done so as to
avoid any risk of our food's affecting us injuriously, owing
to a possible glance of the Evil Eye, which a person may
possess without being aware of the fact.

We notice a little copper tube slung on the right upper
arm of our host's wife, by means of a yellow thread which
passes through two rings on its under side. In reply to
our carefully worded inquiry regarding it, he informs us
that as she had been troubled with evil dreams they had
thought it advisable to get a friend of his, a Vedarala or
doctor, who was acquainted with astrological and magical
lore, to supply her with a magical diagram and spell against
dreams, inscribed on a strip of dried palm leaf, which was
rolled up and placed in the tube. The thread, a triple one,
was coloured with saffron, and nine knots were made on it
before it was tied on her arm, a magical spell being repeated
as each knot was made. Thanks to this safeguard the
dreams had ceased, but it was considered advisable not to
remove the thread and charm for a few weeks longer.

Our host's relative, having eaten some milk-rice, and
taken a chew of betel and areka-nut in his mouth, is about
to return to his distant village, and now leaves, saying only,
" Well, I am going." " It is good ; having gone come,"
is the reply. The latter word must not be omitted, or it
might appear that his return in the future was not desired.

So he sets off on his journey, the host accompanying
hirri to the garden fence. However, in a few minutes he
is back again, and explains that he had met with a bad
omen which made it necessary to postpone the departure.
A dog stood in the path, obstructing his way, and made

i6 INTRODUCTION

no attempt to move even when he spoke to it. The host
cordially agrees that it would be most unwise to continue
the journey after such an unfavourable omen on starting,
and it is settled that he will leave early in the afternoon,
when the danger, whatever it may be, probably will have
passed away.

And so on, like a perpetual nightmare haunting him
during his whole journey through life, the Kandian villager
sees his dreaded portents in the simplest occurrences of his
daily life. A few are prognostications of good luck ; but
far more in number are those which are to him obvious
warnings, not to be disregarded with impunity, of some
unknown but impending evil that he must avoid if possible.

Every evil is directly due to evil spirits, either specially
instigated to injure him by inimical magicians, or taking
advantage of some accidental opportunity. The evil
spirits are innumerable and malevolent, and ever ready to
make use of any chance to annoy or injure human beings.
Thus it would be the height of foolhardiness to ignore events
that appear to be signs of some approaching unfavourable
action on their part.

One man informed me that in the dusk one evening he
was unable to find the little exit path from his chena,
and was compelled to remain all night there before the
clearing work was finished. He attributed this entirely
to the malicious action of an evil spirit, who had blocked
it up in order to annoy him. When daylight came the
path was clear, and so plainly to be seen that he was certain
that he could not have missed it at night had it been in a
similar state at that time.

I knew of one instance in which a man who had arranged
to make a lengthy trading journey, and had loaded his cart
with produce ready for an early start at daybreak, aban-
doned the trip because he had a dream in the night which
he considered indicated an unfavourable prospect. The
reader will find a similar tale included among these stories ;
and although the villagers laugh at the foolish men of
whom it is related, there are scores of others who would
return home under such circumstances.

INTRODUCTION 17

It is a holiday season for the villagers, during which
they can devote themselves to the congenial occupation
of contemplating the growth of the rice and the millet
crop ; but it was preceded by much hard work in the rice
field and the chena. The felling of the thorny jungle at
the chena, the lopping and burning of the bushes, the
clearing and hoeing of the ground, and the construction
of the surrounding fence, were carried on continuously
under a scorching sun from morning to night, until the
work was completed shortly before the first light showers
enabled the seed to be sown, after a further clearing of
the- weeds that had sprung up over the ground.

As soon as the heavier rains had softened the hard soil
of the rice field, baked, where not sandy, by the tropical
sun until it became like stone, the work of ploughing and
preparing the land for the paddy crop was one that per-
mitted little or no intermission. Every morning the men
carried their little ploughs on their shoulders, and yoking
a couple of buffaloes to each of them, spent many hours
in guiding the blunt plough backwards and forwards through
the soil, overgrown since the last crop by a covering of grass.
It requires no slight labour to convert such an apparently
intractable material into a smooth sheet of soft mud, eight
inches deep. After that is done, all the little earthen
ridges that form the raised borders of each of the rectangular
plots into which the field is divided, and that are necessary
for retaining the sheet of water which is periodically flooded
over the rice, must be repaired and trimmed.

When that is accomplished the ground must be sown
by hand without delay, . with paddy which has already
sprouted, and being merely scattered lightly on the surface
of the thick mud, will grow at once. The preparation of
the paddy for this purpose is one of the duties of the women,
who soak it in water, and spread it a few inches thick on
large mats laid on the floor of the shed or the veranda.
In three days it will be sprouted, and ready for immediate
sowing. After the sowing is completed, there still remains
the repair or reconstruction of the stick fence which jM-otects
the field from cattle, or, in some parts, deer.

c

i8 INTRODUCTION

It is thought to be essential for obtaining a satisfactory
crop, that each of the more important operations of these
or any other works should be commenced on a day and
at an hour that have been selected by the local astrologer
as auspicious. There must be no unfavourable aspects
of the planets, which are held to have a most powerful
and often deleterious influence on all terrestrial matters ;
planets or no planets, certain days are also recognised by
every person who claims a modicum of intelligence, as
being notoriously unlucky.

After the time for beginning the ploughing, or commencing
the clearing of the jungle at the chena, has been so chosen,
a start must be made at that hour, even though it be nothing
more than a beginning ; and usually the plough is once
run at that time through each little plot of the field, several
days before the real ploughing is undertaken. In the case
of the chena, a few branches will be lopped off at the lucky
moment, and the remainder of the work can then be done
when convenient.

Without such necessary precautions no village cultivator
would be astonished at the subsequent failure or unpro-
ductiveness of the crops, either through excess or deficiency
of the rainfall, or damage caused by wild animals, or, in
the case of the rice, by an excessive irruption of " flies "
or bugs, which suck out the milky juices of the immature
grains. The surprise would be felt, not at the failure of
the crops under such unfavourable conditions, but at the
survival of any crop worth reaping.

Of course, in the case of the " flies " on the rice the
usual remedy of their forefathers will be tried. A Bali
Tiyanna, a priest who makes offerings to arrest or avert
the evil influences due to unpropitious planets, will be
summoned. After presenting a small offering, he will
march round the crop, blowing a perforated chank shell
in order to alarm any unfavourable spirits ; at each side
of the field he will formally exorcise the flies, and in a loud
voice order them to depart.^

But on the whole, notwithstanding the thorough con-
'■ See note at the end of the Introduction.

" "^ INTRODUCTION 19

fidence of the exorcist in the efficacy of this treatment, it
is felt to be a last resort, which ought to be, but often is
not, altogether as successful as the owner of the crop might
desire. Planets and flies are sometimes intractable, and
will not hearken to the charmer. Besides, thinks the
cultivator, who knows if the Bali Tiyanna was so foolish
as to speak to some one on his march round the field, and
thus break the spell ?

Now that he comes to consider the matter, the cultivator
remembers that he heard the cry of a Woodpecker 1 as
he was leaving the house for the first ploughing. He
thought at the time that, as the hour had been declared
to be a fortunate one, that warning scream was intended
for some other person ; but now he is of opinion that it
may have been addressed to him. It is unfortunate ; it
must have been settled by Fate that he should neglect it,
but he will exercise more care another time. He feels that
he can always place confidence in the House Lizards and
Woodpeckers, because they receive their information from
the gods themselves.

When the chena crop is ripe, the wives of the owners
collect a number of friends and relatives, and proceed
with them to the place, each carrying a light sack or two,
and a diminutive sickle. With this they cut off the heads
of the millet, storing them in the sacks ; the straw is left
as useless. All the party are rather gaily dressed, usually
in white, and often have a broad strip of caUco tied over
the head, with the ends falling down the back. This
work is looked upon as a recreation, and is carried on amid
a large amotmt of chatter and banter, and the singing of
songs by first one and then another, each verse being
repeated by the whole party. Some that are sung are
simple verses from the olden time, which probably are
believed to have a magical influence.

At noon and in the evening the bags full of millet are

carried to the houses of the owners of the crop. Meals

are provided for the whole party by them, and nonpayment

is made for the work. In most districts the men never

1 Cf. Jataka, No. 206 (vol. ii, p. 106).

20 INTRODUCTION

take any part in this reaping, and their presence would
be thought objectionable. As one of them expressed it,
they stay at home and boil water.

For the reaping of the rice crop, the man to whom it
belongs collects a few assistants in the same way, the
women also sometimes joining in the work. The stems
of the plants are cut near the ground, and are tied up in
little sheaves, which are collected first at some of the junc-
tions of the earthen ridges in the field. The whole are
removed afterwards and built into larger stacks at the
side of the field, near a flat threshing-floor of hard earth,
surrounded by a fence in which a few trees are planted as
a shade.

The threshing of the stacks is a business of great impor-
tance, which must be performed according to ancient
customs that are supposed to have a magical effect, and
prevent injurious demoniacal interference with the out-turn.
After the floor has been thoroughly cleaned and purified,
a magical circular diagram, with mystical symbols round
it, is drawn on the ground round a central post, before
the threshing can be commenced.

The unthreshed rice is laid over the floor in a circle round
the central post, and four buffaloes in a row are driven
over it, round and round the post, following the direction
taken by the sun, that is, from the east towards the south
and so on through the circle, the stems of the rice being
shaken up from time to time. After the corn has been
thus trampled out of the ears it is collected and poured
gradually out of baskets held high in the air, so that the
wind may blow away the chaff. The com is then placed
in sacks and carried to the store.

After the crop of the chena or field has been gathered in,
a small offering of the first-fruits is made at the local Dewala,
or demon temple, and cleaned rice is also presented to the
resident monk at the local Buddhist temple.

When the crop is placed in the store, the household
supply of food for at least a great part of the year, and
commonly for the whole year, has been provided for. Such
additions as salt, sun-dried fish, and some of the condiments

INTRODUCTION 21

used in curries are obtained by bartering coconuts, or
paddy, or millet, at little roadside shops which are estab-
lished at a few places along the main roads throughout
the country. These are kept by Muhammadan trades —
commonly termed Tambi, with, in village talk, the honorific
addition ayiyct, " elder brother," — or Sinhalese from the
Low Country districts, or Tamils from Jaffna ; and rarely
or never by Kandians. From these shops, also, clothes
are procured at long intervals in the same way, or a special
journey is made to the nearest town or larger shopping centre.

As a general rule, in the interior it is all a matter of
barter, and very little money is used, so little indeed that
if the crops be less satisfactory than usual the villager
often has difficulty in paying the tax of a rupee and a half
(two shillings), which is collected by Government each year
from adult males, towards the cost of keeping the roads
in order. In the poorer districts, the payment of this,
the only direct tax of the villager, is like a recurring annual
nightmare, which worries him for weeks together, and
xmfortunately cannot be charmed away, like his other
nightmares, by a magic thread.

Village life is on the whole a dull one. Its excitements
are provided by demon-ceremonies for the cure of sickness,
occasional law-suits, and more especially by weddings,
which afford a welcome opportunity for feasting, and
displajong clothes and jewellery, but sometimes also cause
quarrels owing to caste or family jealousies. It would be
too long a digression to attempt to describe these here.
Pilgrimages to important Buddhist temples are also under-
taken, about nine-tenths of the pilgrims being women, a
proportion sometimes observable in church attendance in
England.

One of the pleasantest features of village life is the family
re-union at the Sinhalese New Year, April 11 or 12, when
all the members meet at their old home if possible, and
make little presents to each other, and pay ceremonial
visits, dressed in their best clothes, to their relatives and
friends. The men also call on their local headmen, who
in the same way visit their superiors. I have known con-

22 INTRODUCTION

siderable numbers of villagers tramp ninety miles on hot
dusty roads, with an equally long return journey in prospect,
in order to be present at this home gathering.

For three weeks before the day, the whole village life is
disorganised by preparations for this festival. The houses
are furbished up, plantains and palm sugar are collected,
often from places many miles away, new clothes are pur-
chased, and every one's mind is given up to anticipation
of the event and provision for it, to the complete exclusion
of all ordinary work. It is also a busy time for astrologers,
who are required to fix a statable day and a lucky hour
for the first lighting of the New Year's fire, the first cooking
of food, and, three or four days later, the hour at which the
heads of all shall be anointed, pending which important
ceremony no work is begun or journey commenced.

In many villages the women produce from some dark
hiding-place the little board with fourteen little cup-shaped
hollows, in two rows each consisting of seven cups, on
which the ancient game called in Ceylon " OUnda " is
played. Four bright red seeds of the Olinda creeper are
placed in each cup, and the two players, who sit on opposite
sides of the board, " sow " them one by one in the holes.
As a rule, only the women play at this game, at which many
of them are adepts, carrying it on for hours at a time with
the greatest rapidity and skill. At the conclusion of the
New Year's hohday, or soon after it, the boards are returned
to their hiding-places, and often are not used again for
another year. In the villages where Low Country influence
has penetrated, many of the men find gambling a more
attractive amusement, as well as a more exciting one, at
this time.

About once in a couple of years a party of Gypsies who
speak Telugu, and broken Tamil and Sinhalese, come
along the high road, and settle down on a patch of open
grass near a tank. The talipat palm leaves with which
their diminutive oblong huts are roofed, and strong creepers
or bamboos curved in a semicircle, for making the skeleton
framework, are transported on small donkeys, the women
and children carrying the other few household goods and

INTRODUCTION 23

cooking utensils in bundles on their heads. Some take
about with them large numbers of goats.

As soon as they have raised their little huts, each about
four feet high, and surrounded by a shallow channel for
carrying off rain water, the adults leave them in charge
of the children and old women, and spread through all
the villages of the neighbourhood in order to collect food
or money. The man carries in a round, flat, black basket
slung in a cloth from his shoulder, a cobra or two, which
are made to " dance," a term which means merely sitting
coiled up (the head with the hood expanded being raised
about fifteen inches from the ground), and making attempts
to strike the moving knee or hand of the crouching exhibitor.
The women tell fortunes by the hues on the hands.

All the village girls endeavour to raise the requisite
three halfpence or twopence so as to hear, often for the
third or fourth time, of their past and future experiences,
and to be promised handsome husbands possessing fields
and cattle. The adults pay a little rice for the exhibition
of the cobras.

When the Gypsies have exhausted the contributory
possibilities of the adjoining villages they move on again
to another camping ground. They have always a number
of dogs which assist in catching animals for the food supply,
and it is few, whether provided with legs or without legs,
that are thought unfit to eat. The diet includes white
ants, rat-snakes, owls, and munguses, as well as any stray
village fowls that can be acquired surreptitiously.

These Gypsies of Ceylon are an interesting race, and I
may be permitted a digression in order to furnish some
details regarding them. I am not aware how long they
have settled in Ceylon ; they are permanent dwellers in
the island, and are especially found in the northern half
and the eastern districts, but also in the south and in the
hill districts. In the Sinhalese districts they have developed
a dialect which appears to be a curious compound of Telugu
and Sinhalese. Thus fowls, which in Telugu are termed
Kollu, are known by them as Guglu, the Sinhalese Kukuhi.

From a Gypsy with whom, by the aid of pecuniary

24 INTRODUCTION

intervention, I established friendly relations, cemented
by my presenting him one day with a fine newly-caught
cobra, I learnt that they enjoy general good health, not-
withstanding the apparent hardships of their life. They
attribute this to their constant changes of drinking-water
and camping-sites, no camp being maintained in one place
for more than seven days in the Sinhalese districts. In the
Eastern Province, where the Gypsies possess very large
herds of cattle, amounting sometimes to four or five hun-
dred, they camp in one spot for a month if the grazing be
sufficiently good.

They do not keep their cobras for more than a month.
After being kept for that period, they not only become
too tame to " dance," but, what is far more important,
their poison fangs grow afresh, and it would be dangerous
to retain them. They are therefore always released at
the end of that time, if not earlier. They are fed regularly
upon fowls' eggs and occasional rats.

My friend characterised as nonsense the idea of their
handling and using cobras which have not had their fangs
excised. The reader may remember Sir Bartle Frere's
note in Old, Deccan Days, p. 329, regarding a boy who
continued to handle with impunity poisonous snakes with
unremoved fangs, until at last one killed him. The reader
is also referred to Drummond Hay's Western Barbary,
1844, pp. 105-108, in which an account is given x)f a snake-
charmer who allowed a deadly snake to bite him.- A
fowl that it bit immediately afterwards died in a minute,
while the man did not suffer from the bite. Hay saw the
snake's fangs. He mentions another instance at Tangier,
in which a youth who was sceptical regarding the poison
allowed the snake to bite him, and died from the effect of it.

I saw this Gypsy cut off -the fangs of the cobra that I
gave him. This was done with a common pen-knife which
he kept for the purpose. The head being held sideways
on a thick stick, so that the upper jaw lay on it, the fang was
cut ofE at the base. The head was then turned, and the
other fang removed. The man then passed his fore-finger
?.long the jaw, and finding a slight roughness or projection,

INTRODUCTION 25

sliced off a little of the bone at each side. After this he
released the cobra, which followed him and sprang at him
furiously, time after timfe, and had its first lesson on the
ease with which he evaded its strokes. When it became
tired of attempting the impossible, he consigned it to his
basket — another cobra ready for exhibition.

.Some of these men are extraordinarily expert in making
pretended captures of cobras which they apparently fas-
cinate by their pipes, so as to attract them from their
holes or hiding-places. They perform this feat so cleverly
as to deceive many people, who insist that it is a real capture.
I have twice got them to do it for me — in the Southern
and the North-western Provinces — and although I watched
them from a very short distance, I was unable to see whence
the cobra was produced. On both occasions I examined
the mouth of the cobra immediately after it was captured,
and in both instances I found that the fangs had been
removed. My Gypsy friend also assured me that it was
a mere trick which only a few learn. ■

In each case, the man, who was dressed only in a cloth
extending from the waist to the calf, after piping for some
time at the edge of the bushes in which the snake might
possibly be found, bent down suddenly, half entering the
bush, and apparently endeavoured to seize a cobra which
eluded him. After resuming the piping for a few seconds
more, he bent down again at the same spot, and drew
out a large cobra — one was nearly six feet long ; it extended
to the full length of his outstretched hands — holding it
by the tail ; then slipping his other hand rapidly along
its body he grasped it tightly behind the jaws. Probably
when first bending down he placed a cobra on the ground,
afterwards seizing it by the tail as it was moving off.

In one case, a pretence at being bitten on the thumb
on the way back from the bush was very effective. There
were two bleeding punctures between the nail and the
knuckle, at the right distance apart, and the expressions
of pain no doubt were not altogether simulated.

The supposed poison was extracted by means of the
usual spells and remedial agents — a charmed piece of

26 INTRODUCTION

creeper and a tiny ball of lime, the latter to check the
progress of the poison along the arm, and the former to
draw it down to the wounds ; and two " snake stones " —
nearly flat rectangular pieces of horn slightly hollowed
on one side — ^which were placed on the wounds to extract
the poison. These " stones " adhere by atmospheric
pressure when wetted and pressed on the skin with the
hollowed side downwards. I have been informed that
the wounds are made by pressing on the thumb a thorny
seed capsule which has two sharp spikes at a suitable
distance apart.

One of these men afterwards proceeded to a large village
about a mile away, and appeared to capture three more
cobras in the same manner at houses where the residents
denied that any were to be found ; but in the end I was
told by the villagers that he had only two cobras in his
basket, this being the number that I saw in his possession
before these last pretended captures were made.

These people are said to live well, better, indeed, than
the majority of the villagers. The women are given to
lavish personal adornment of an inexpensive kind, chiefly
articles of brass and glass. On one lady, perhaps considered
a beauty, I counted sixteen bead necklaces ; twenty-four
bangles, chiefly of common black glass, on the wrists ;
four silver armlets on the upper arms ; and six rings on
each finger and thumb, excepting only the middle finger
of each hand.

The Kandian village is a self-contained unit, producing
everything that the inhabitants require, with the exception
of the few articles previously mentioned. It hears a faint
echo of the news of the great outer world, without feeling
that this has any connexion with its own Ufe. It would
listen with almost equal indifference to a statement that
the sky was blue, or that England was at war with a European
power, or that a new Governor had been appointed. When
I asked a villager's opinion regarding the transfer of a
Government Agent who had ruled a Province for some
years, he replied, " They say one Agent has gone and
another Agent has come ; that is all."

INTRODUCTION 27

The supervision of the work of maintaining in order
the embankment of the village reservoir or " tank," upon
which the rice crops depend, as well as of the fencing of
the rice field, is in the hands of the Gamarala, now termed
in other parts than the North-central Province, the Vidane.
The latter title is not recognised in any of the folk-tales,
in which (with one exception) the Gamarala is the only
headman represented. His jurisdiction extends over two
or three closely adjoining villages, or sometimes over one
only.

Of a higher rank and different functions is the Aracci
(pronounced Aratchy), who rules over five or six villages,
and who is responsible for the maintenance of order, arrests
and prosecutes offenders, and acts as general factotum
for seeing that the orders received from superior headmen
are promulgated and obeyed.

Of much more important authority are the Korale-
Aracci and Korala, the latter being the head of a considerable
district, and above these again is the Ratemahatmaya,
who is the supreme and very influential chief of a large
part of a Province. By successive steps in promotion the
members of influential or respectable families may rise
to any of these of&ces. Though all but the highest one
are unsalaried, they are competed for with a good deal of
eagerness on account of the power which they confer, the
possibility of further promotion, and also for the opportunities
which they afford for receiving " presents," which flow in
a pleasing though invisible, but not therefore less remunera-
tive, stream towards all but the Vidanes and Gama-
ralas.

A few words may be added regarding the castes of the
Kandian districts whose stories are given in this work,
or who are referred to.

The Smiths come next to the cultivating caste, sometimes
occupying separate hamlets, but often living in the same
village as the superior caste, though divided from it by
an impassable gulf, of which only the women preserve the
outward sign. Those of the cultivating caste are alone
permitted by social custom to dress in one outer robe in

28 INTRODUCTION

one piece ; all of lower rank must wear a separate garment
from the waist upward.

The Smiths are considered to be the highest class of
their caste, called Nayide, the artificers. There are said
to be five classes of Nayides : — (i) Acari (pronoimced
Atchary), which includes the Smiths, Painters, and Sculp-
tors ; (2) Badahaela, Potters ; (3) Mukkara or Kardwa,
Fishers ; (4) Madinna, Toddy-drawers {" toddy " is fresh
palm-juice) ; (5) all " Moormen," the descendants of
Muhammadan settlers. All these, and the other low
castes, except the Rodiyas, cultivate rice and millet.

The Potters live by making all local forms of earthen
pottery, and tiles and bricks if required. They build up
large temporary kilns filled with alternate layers of pots
and firerwood, and are often intelligent men. Some of
them are priests or conductors of services for the propitiation
of planets and other evil astronomical bodies, as well as
astrologers.

Next in the villages come the Washermen {Radawd,
or Henayd, or Henawalayd), who possess great power as
the arbiters regarding cases of the violation of social eti-
quette or custom. The disgrace of a refusal on their part
to wash the clothes of objectionable persons is a form of
social ostracism, and the offender soon has sad experience
of the truth of the statement of the Maha Bharata that
there is nothing (except fire) that is so purifying as gold
(or its value). Some of the washermen are of&ciators at
demon ceremonies. They are paid for their services as
washermen in produce of various kinds, each family giving
an annual subvention in paddy, etc., in return for its washing.
One whom I knew could improvise four-line stanzas for
an indefinite time, on the spur of the moment, each verse
being composed while the audience dianted the refrain after
the preceding one.

The Tom-tom Beaters (Berawayd) are a peculiar and
interesting caste, who formerly combined their present
duties with the weaving of cotton fabrics in frames. Al-
though the arduous work of their profession — often a
whole night's hard dancing or tom-toming — leads at the

INTRODUCTION 29

time to a considerable consumption of " arrack," the
spirit distilled from palm juice, I believe that few of
them take much liquor at other times.

In their own work many of them are very expert, the
result of many years of training. On one occasion three
tom-tom beaters requested permission to give me an exhi-
bition of their skill. The leader first played a short simple
tune, which was repeated in turn by the second and third
players. They continued to play in this way, in turn, the
tunes becoming increasingly difficult and rapid ; whatever
impromptu changes the leader introduced were all repeated
in the same manner by the others. A number of villagers
who were present, and listening critically, stated that it
was a clever performance ; it was also a noisy one.

The boys are taught to learn thoroughly, without using
a tom-tom, the whole of the complicated airs that are
played, repeating a series of sounds such as ting, tang, etc.,
which with varying emphasis represent the various notes
to be played on the tom-tom. Not until they can give
in this manner the whole of an air correctly, as regards
notes, time, and emphasis, are they considered to know
it. It is a tonic sol-fa system. To these professionals,
every air has its name and meaning, often' expressed in
words which fit the notes ; so that when a very few notes
have been heard they can state what is being said. The
reader will find one or two references to this in the folk-tales.

The Durayds are the carriers of baggage for the higher
caste, and nearly always have tanks and fields of more than
average quahty. These have been granted to them in
former times by the cultivating caste in return for their
services, which could be claimed at any time if a man were
about to pi-oceed on a journey, and required himself or his
luggage carr5dng. They still occupy a very low social
position. Formerly the women were not allowed to wear
above the waist more clothing than a strip of calico of
about a hand's breadth, across the breast ; a coloured
handkerchief now generally takes its place.

Much has been written about the Rodiyds. They may
be of partly different descent from the Sinhalese^ but I

30 INTRODUCTION ^ ■ '•

do not know how far this matter has been investigated.
Their hamlets are never called guma, " village," but kuppd-
yama.'^ I am not aware that any of them cultivate rice
fields ; they make ropes, and guard chenas and cattle
for others. They also partly subsist by begging, and, it
is said, by theft ; some are gamblers also. The women
usually wear no clothing above the waist. Their dialect
differs from Sinhalese to some extent.

Nothing is known regarding the origin of the Kinnards,
the lowest caste of all, in whose case there are several
anomalies that deserve investigation. They do not hunt
as a profession. They have village tanks and rice fields,
own cattle, and have good houses and neat villages. Their
caste occupation is mat weaving in frames, with Niyanda
fibre alone or combined with grass.

Some have their heads covered with a mass of thick,
short, very curly hair, being the only people in the island
possessing this distinctive characteristic. The features
and the colour of the skin are of the ordinary type of the
lower castes, and would not enable them to be recognised
from others. Social rules forbid the growth of the hair
beyond the neck. The dress of the women is restricted
like that of the Durayas. Though they can never enter
Buddhist temples, or the enclosures round them, they are
all Buddhists. I was informed that their social ceremonies,
as well as the religious ones, that is, those for propitiating
evil spirits, whether demoniacal or planetary, closely
resemble those of the other castes ; and that they, as well
as the Rodiyas, have their own medical practitioners,
astrologers, soothsayers, and kapuwds or officiators at
demon ceremonies.

The men of the Chetti caste, or Hettiyds, who are men-
tioned in some of the stories, are either Indians, or the
descendants of Indian settlers. The Chetti caste is one
of great importance, and many of its members are persons
of the highest respectability and often of great wealth.
The persons referred to in these tales are only some of the

* From the Tamil kufpam, a village of small houses, perhaps
+ ayam, ground.

INTRODUCTION 31

inferior members of the race, some of whom have little
road-side shops or cultivate small fields and gardens.

Coming at last to the stories themselves, I may quote
the words of the late Mr. W. Goonetilleke, the learned
editor of The Orientalist, a journal published during the
years 1884-1892, in which many folk-tales of Ceylon were
given. Mr. Goonetilleke said (vol. i. p. 36), " What is
really wanted . . . are the genuine stories of the Sinhalese
[and other races also], those which are quite free from
foreign influences, and have existed among the people
from time immemorial. These can only be gathered from
the inhabitants of villages and of the remoter parts of the
island into which western civilization has not yet pene-
trated." It is an adherence to this advice, and, I may say
also, the complete absence of all attempts to give the tales
a literary appearance that the originals do not possess,
which constitute the special features of the present
work.

Though all have been collected by myself, I have only
myself written down a very limited number from dictation.
All the rest have been written for me in Sinhalese by the
narrators themselves, or by other villagers employed by
me to collect them, who wrote them just as they were
dictated. I preferred this latter method as being free from
any disturbing foreign influence. Only three very short
stories were written down by me in English ; two of them
were related in English by a Sinhalese gentleman, and the
other, a variant of another story, was written immediately
after a Buddhist monk had related it to me in Sinhalese.

The stories, as they now appear, are practically literal
translations of the written Sinhalese originals, perhaps it
may be thought in some respects too literal. My aim has
been to present them as nearly as possible in the words
in which they are related in the villages. The only liberty
of any importance that I have taken has been the insertion
of an occasional word or phrase where it was evidently
omitted by the narrator, or was necessary in order to
elucidate the meaning, or complete the sense.

32 INTRODUCTION

It was unavoidable that many expressions, such as " after-
wards," "after that," "at that time," "then," "again,','
with which the village story-teller repeatedly begins his
sentences, should be deleted. Many past participles which
Sinhalese grammar requires have been transformed into
the past tense, and most of the tense errors have been
corrected, and in rare instances an unmanageable sentence
has been cut in two. Such a word as " came," when it
expressed "came back," is sometimes translated "re-
turned " ; and " said," where it referred to an answer, is
occasionally turned into " replied." The word translated
as " behead," is merely " cut " in the original ; but the
context sometimes shows that the other meaning is to be
understood.

■ In other respects, the reader may rely on having here
the tales in their true village forms, and expressed in the
same simple manner. I have even left one peculiar idiom
that is often used, according to which a question is des-
cribed as being asked, or a statement made, " at the hand "
of a person ; but I do not follow the village story-teller in
using this form in conversations carried on with the lower
animals. It is quite usual in Sinhalese to state that a
question was asked by a person " at the hand " {lit. " from
the hand," the same word meaning also " fore-paw ") of a
jackal, a deer, or a reptile. It will be seen that I have
not attempted to translate the interjections into English.

It will be noticed that in the majority of the tales the
characters are introduced in the present tense, which is
then abandoned. The narrators sometimes relapse into it
afterwards, but as a rule, unless action is being emphasised,
I have adhered to the past tense in such instances, excepting
in the stories told by the Village Vaeddas and the lowest
castes, in which it. seemed advisable to make as little change
as possible. v

Attention may be invited to the tales told by the lowest
castes, probably the only stories of theirs that have ever
been collected in Ceylon. From the Tom-tom Beaters a
considerable number were obtained, some of which will
appear in a later volume. The few tales that have been

INTRODUCTION 33

told by the Rodiyas and Kinnaras are very simple ; the
chief fact is that they have any to tell.

It appeared to be hkely that some of the Sindbad series
of adventures might be found, in Ceylon, but inquiries made
in different districts, including part of the west coast, failed
to reveal any tales belonging to the " Arabian Nights,"
with the exception of one which probably was derived
from a printed work, and orally transmitted from one of
the towns. It is still possible that some may be found,
as the Rukh is included in the Sinhalese tales, and the ogre
called Rakshasa, who is a familiar personage in them, is
correctly described in his folk-tale form, in one of the
Sindbad voyages. In one story, which is not included
in this work, there is the incident of the demon who was
imprisoned in a bottle. The demon was Mara, Death
personified, and his captor was a Vedarala, or medical
practitioner. The age of the tale is uncertain.

It is evident that many of the stories belong to distant
times, but there is little to indicate their age more definitely.
In one tale only, of this volume, the money mentioned is
the kahawanuwa, in old Sinhalese kahawana, the Pali kahci-
fana, a coin that ceased to be current by the tenth or
eleventh century a.d., if not considerably earher. Com-
monly, we find that the coinage is the masurama, plural
masuran, which came into use in the eleventh century and
was not coined after the thirteenth ; but of course this is
far from proving that the stories in which it occurs are not
of much earlier date. There are no references to the Portu-
guese, who arrived in Ceylon at the beginning of the six-
teenth century, or to later foreign residents ; but a Tamil
king is mentioned.

Although a large number of the stories relate the adven-
tures of Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses, it will be
observed that tiaese personages sometimes behave like
ordinary villagers. The Queen or Princess often cooks the
rice for the family meal ; Sir Bartle Frere has stated in the
notes at the end of Old Deccan Days, p. 324, that this
" would be nothing unusual in the house of a Rajah. . . .
It is still tjje most natural precaution, he can take against

34 INTRODUCTION

poison, to eat nothing but what has been prepared by his
own wife or daughter, or under their eye in his own zenana,
and there are few accomplishmenta on which an Indian
Princess prides herself more than on her skill in cook-
ery."

It is not to be luiderstood that such persons in these
stories are supposed to be members of the family of the
ruling monarch of Ceylon. These so-called " kings,"
ruling over a small district or even a single city, are in reality
some of the more important parumahas or feudal chiefs
of the inscriptions of pre-Christian or early post-Christian
years. This old title does not make its appearance in the
stories, however.

Vaedda rulers who are termed " kings " receive notice
in three stories. In one which was given in Ancient Ceylon,
p. 93, a Vaedda youth was appointed the king of a Sinhalese
district, which is stated to have prospered under his rule.
In a tale in the present volume (No. 4) reference is made to
a Vaedda " king " who dwelt in a forest, and who arrested
some travellers and imprisoned them in what is termed a
house. In another story, which is not included here, there
is an account of another Vaedda " king " who lived in a
forest, and who ordered his archers to kill a prince who had
succeeded to the sovereignty of a neighbouring district
on the death of his father, and was proceeding there in order
to assume it. His offence lay in travelling through the
forest without first obtaining the permission of the Vaedda
ruler. We also find references to Vaeddas who were ac-
customed to enter the towns ; one of them laid a complaint
before a Sinhalese " king " that a person had threatened to
kill him in the forest. Probably in all these instances we
have a true picture of the actual position, in early times,
of some of the Vaeddas who had not yet adopted, or had
abandoned, the vijljlage' life. Their chiefs were practically
independent in their wild forests.

The Rakshasas (in village spelling Rasayd, Rdsl) who are
introduced into many tales are ogres like those of Europe.
The Yakas are always demons or evil spirits, of little intelli-
gence, often having a human appearance but black in

INTRODUCTION 35

colour. They live chiefly upon human flesh, like the ogres,
and possess like them some supernatural powers.

With regard to the animals mentioned, it is strange to
find such prominence accorded to the Lion, which has
never existed in a wild state in Ceylon. Its characteristics
are correctly described, even including its ear-splitting roar.

The place taken by the Fox of European tales is filled by
the Jackal, full of craft and stratagems, but sometimes
over-reaching himself. The Hare and Turtle are repre-
sented as surpassing all the animals in cleverness, as in
African and American Negro stories.

Of all the animals, the poor Leopard is relegated to the
lowest place, both as regards want of intelligence and
cowardice ; and in only one adventure does he come off
better than tlie Jackal. Even in that one his position
is a despicable one, and he is completely cowed by a little
Mouse-deer, the clever animal of Malay stories. In Ceylon
the Leopard occupies the place taken in India by the foolish
Tiger.

It is perhaps the chief merit of these stories, and cer-
tainly a feature which gives them a permanent value, that
we have in them the only existing picture of the village
life of ancient times, painted by the villagers themselves.
From the histories we can learn practically nothing regard-
ing the life of those of the ancient inhabitants of Ceylon
who were not monks or connected with royalty, or the
conditions under which they existed. It is here alone
that the reader finds the daily experiences and the ideas
and beliefs of the villagers gradually unfolded before him.
In some of the stories we may see how the village Ufe went
on in the early centuries after Christ, and how little it has
changed since that time. Others doubtless contain par-
ticulars which belong to a much later period, and in some
there is an incongruous mixture of the old and the new, as
when the slates of school children are introduced into what
is evidently a tale of considerable age.

In the case of stories like these, composed for the amuse-
ment of villagers only, and related by villagers to other
villagers, it might be expected that a considerable number

36 INTRODUCTION

of objectionable expressions would occur. So far from
this being the fact, I am able to state with much satisfaction
that in only three or four instances in this volume has it
been thought desirable to slightly modify any part of the
stories. It is to be remembered that it is not the function of
these tales in general to inculcate ideas of morality or
propriety, although kindness of heart is always represented
as meeting with some adequate reward or success, and
the wicked and cruel are punished in most cases. But
successful trickery and clever stratagems are always quoted
approvingly, and are favourite themes in the tales which
are most evidently of entirely local origin. In this respect
they do not differ from many Indian stories. Undaunted
bravery, and also self-abnegation and deep affection, are
characteristics which are displayed by many of the heroes
and heroines ; but untruthfulness is practised, and is never
condemned.

The instances of polygamy are almost confined to the
members of the royal families ; there is one case of polyandry
in which both the husbands were brothers. Infanticide
was practised ; in one tale a woman is recommended to kill
her infant son because his horoscope was said to be unpro-
pitious, and in another the parents abandoned their newly-
born infant in order to carry home some fruit. In a story
that is not included in this volume, a king is described as
ordering all his female children to be killed immediately
after birth. In another tale which is not given here, another
king is stated to have sold his children during a time of
scarcity.

These " kings," however, are almost always depicted
in an unfavourable light. They are represented as cowardly,
selfish, licentious, unintelligent, and headstrong, ordering
their sons or others to be executed for very slight faults,
in sudden fits of anger. Murders are referred to as being
commonly committed with impunity, and by no means of
unusual occurrence. One man is said to have exchanged
his wife for a bullock.

Yet although the story-tellers do not relate social events
which were not within the range of the common experience

INTRODUCTION 37

or traditions of the people at the time when the tales were
invented, it may be doubted if the great mass of the villagers
differed much as regards crime and moraUty from those of
the present day. The htmidrum life of the ordinary villager
did not appeal to the story-teller, who required more stirring
incidents. It is not necessary to assume that such events
were of everyday occurrence.

Considering the situation of Ceylon and the Indian origin
of the people, it was certain that numerous tales would
be similar to those of India, if not identical with them ;
but, with the exception of the story of the Creation, there
are merely bare references to the Indian deities in about
four of the tales in this volume.

The great majority of the folk-tales collected by me,
and almost the whole of those given in this volume, come
from districts of the far interior of the island, where story-
books in Sinhalese, Tamil, ^ or Arabic do not appear to have
penetrated, and English is unknown by the villagers. Such
tales are therefore nearly free from modem extraneous in-
fluences, and must be looked upon as often of genuine Sinha-
lese origin, even when they utiUse the usual stock incidents
of Indian folk-stories. A very few which resemble Jataka
stories may owe their dissemination to Buddhist teaching,
and doubtless some also were orally transmitted by immi-
grants who were often of South Indian nationality — as
their similarity to South Indian stories shows — or in some
instances may have been settlers from the Ganges valley,
or near it.

With regard to the latter, it is not probable that they
consisted only of the early immigrants of pre-Christian
tim«s. King Nissanka-Malla, who reigned from 1198 to
1207 A.D., has recorded in his inscriptions that he was
a native of Sinhapura, then apparently the capital of
the Kalinga kingdom, which extended far down the east
coast of India, southward from the lower part of the Ganges
valley ; and he and his Chief Queen Subhadra, a Kalinga
Princess, must have brought into Ceylon many of their

» The Tamil stories of Mariyada Raman, or some of them, are
known in one district. Arabic is unknown.

38 INTRODUCTION

fellow-countrymen. The Queens of two other earlier
Kings of Ceylon were also Princesses from Kalinga.

In the Galpota inscription at Polannaruwa (Prof. E. Miiller's
Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon, No. 148), he stated that
" invited by the King [Parakrama-Bahu I], who was his
senior kinsman, to come and reign over his hereditary
kingdom of Lakdiva [Ceylon], Vira Nissa^ka-Malla landed
with a great retinue in La^ka " [Ceylon]. Further on in the
same inscription he stated that " he sent to the coimtry of
Kalinga, and caused many Princesses of the Soma and
Surya races to be brought hither."

A connexion with the Kalinga kingdom seems to have
been maintained from early times. In his inscriptions the
same king claimed that the sovereignty of Ceylon belonged
by right to the Kalinga dynasty. He described himself
in his DambuUa inscription [Ancient Inscriptions, No. 143),
as " the liege lord of Lakdiva by right of birth, deriving
descent from the race of King Wijaya," the first king of
Ceylon, who according to the Sinhalese historical works
was also bom at a town called Sinhapura, which is stated
to have been founded by his father. In the Galpota in-
scription we read of " Princes of the Kalinga race to whom
the island of La^ka has been pecuUarly appropriate since
the reign of Wijaya."

Nissanka-Malla was succeeded by his elder half-brother,
Sahasa-Malla, who remarked in his Polannaruwa inscrip-
tion [Anc. Inscriptions, No. 156) that he also was bom at
Sinhapura. He, too, claimed that Wijaya was a member
of their family. He said, " Because King Wijaya, having
destroyed the Yakshas, established Lanka like a field made
by rooting out the stumps, it is a place much protected by
Kings from this very family."

Thus it will be seen that stories which are current in
Central India, or the lower part of the Ganges Valley, or
even the Panjab, as well as tales of Indian animals such
as the Lion, may have been brought direct to Ceylon by
immigrants from Kalinga, or Magadha, or Bengal. Appa-
rently it is in this manner that the evident connexion
between the tales of Ceylon and Kashmir is to be explained.

INTRODUCTION 39

the stories passing from Magadha or neighbouring districts,
to Kashmir on the one side, and from Magadha or KaUnga
to Ceylon on the other.

To show the connexion of the Sinhalese stories with
those of India, the outhnes of some Indian parallels have
been appended after each tale, as well as a very few from
the interior of Western Africa ; but no European variants,
except in two instances, where they are inserted for the
benefit of readers in Ceylon.

The stories have been arranged in two parts. In the
first one are those told by members of the Cultivating Caste
and Village Vaeddas ; in the second one those related of
or by members of lower castes. Those of each caste are
given consecutively, the animal stories in each case coming
last.

The general reader is advised to pay no attention to
diacritical marks or dots which indicate separate letters
in the Sinhalese alphabet, or to note only the long vowels.
In all cases ae is to be pronounced as a diphthong, like a
in " hat," and not to rhyme with " me." It is short where
not marked long.

Enough material has been collected for a second volume,
which it is hoped may be published next year.

As reference has been made to the subject in the foregoing
extracts from Sinhalese inscriptions, a few lines may be
added regarding the district from which Wijaya came,
and his journey to Ceylon. The sentences that have been
quoted prove that at the beginning of the thirteenth century
A.D., it was claimed by two kings of Ceylon who came from
Sinhapura in the Kalinga country that they were of the
same family as Wijaya.

At a very early date the lands along the southern bank
of the Ganges were divided into a series of states that once
were independent. Proceeding eastward in the lower
part of the valley, these were Magadha, occupying southern
Bihar, with its capital Rajagaha (called also Rajagriha and
Girivraja), afterwards abandoned in favour of Pataliputta,
near Patna ; Anga, separated from it by the river CampS

40 INTRODUCTION

(c pronounced as ch), on which was its capital Campa ;
Vanga or Banga, probably extending on both sides of the
Ganges, and forming part of the modern Bengal; and
Tamalitta, or Tamralipta, with a capital of the same name
at Tamluk, near the southern mouth of the Ganges. Ex-
tending along the east coast was Kalinga ; and between it
and Magadha and Anga came the Pun^a and Odra states,
the latter occupying part of Orissa.

An old legend recorded that several of these states had a
common origin. It was said that the wife of a Yadava
king Vali or Bali had five sons, Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Pundra
and Odra or Sunga, each of whom founded a separate
state. The names of the first four are grouped together
several times in the Maha Bharata, as taking part with
Kosala and Magadha in the great legendary fight against
the Pandavas, and on one day the troops from Magadha
and Kalinga are said to have formed, with atoother people,
one wing of the Kuru army.

Regarding Kalinga, Pliny gives the name of a race called
the Mac'cocalingse, who have been thought to belong to
Orissa, and he wrote that the Modogalingse occupied a very
large island in the Ganges, that is, apparently part of the
delta.

At a later date there were said to be three districts called
collectively Trikalinga. Whether these were portions of
the more southern part of the Kalinga country only, or
included the land of the Modogalingse, is not clear. If the
Kalinga kingdom once included the territory of the Modo-
galingse, the Tamalitta district would be part of the Kalinga
country at that time ; but apparently Vanga was uncon-
nected with Kalinga, the two being mentioned as separate
kingdoms.

Divested of its impossibilities, the story of Wijaya's
ancestry which is contained in the Sinhalese histories is
that a king of Vanga, who had married the daughter of a
king of Kalinga, had a daughter who joined a caravan that
was proceeding to Magadha. On the way, either a robber
chief called Siha, " Lion," attacked and plundered the
caravan, and carried off the Princess, or she joined a

INTRODUCTION 41

member of the caravan who had that name. They settled
down in a wild tract of country termed Lala, near the western
border of the Vanga territory. There she had two chil-
dren — the eldest being Siha-Bahu — with whom she after-
wards returned to the Vanga capital, where her cousin Anura,
who became King of Vanga, is said to have married her.
Her son Siha-Bahu went back to his father's district,
Laia, founded a town called Sihapura or Sinhapura, and
lived there as the ruler of the country around. Evidently
it was a subordinate district belonging to Vanga ; it is
stated that the Vanga king granted it to him {Mah. i. p. 31).
It is not mentioned in the Ramayana, the Maha Bharata,
the Jataka stories, or in the lists of countries given in the
Puranas to which I have access ; but the people of Lata
are referred to in a tenth century grant from Bhagalpur, a
town on territory that once formed the eastern part of
Magadha {Indo-Aryans , by Dr. R. Mitra, ii. 273).

The first marriage or elopement of the Princess does not
appear to have affected the status of her son Siha-Bahu.
According to the histories, his eldest son, Wijaya, eventually
married the daughter of the Pancjiyan king of the southern
Madura, and his second son, Sumitta, who succeeded him,
married the daughter of the King of Madda or Madra, probably
a small eastern state of that name, rather thaft the distant
Madda in the Panjab.

The Sinhalese histories record that Wijaya was exiled
on account of his lawless behaviour, but the truth of this
statement may be doubted, and it is a suspicious fact that
this part of the story resembles folk-tales from Kashmir.^
We are informed in those works not only that he was exiled,
but that he was also forcibly deported by sea, together
with seven hundred followers, and their wives and children,
that is, two or three thousand persons.

All that is actually credible in this incident is that for a
reason which is unknown, perhaps a love of adventure,
or possibly at the solicitation of traders who had settled
there, he proceeded by sea to Ceylon, where he became the

^ Folk-Tales df Kashmir, Knowles, 2nd ed., pp. 258 and 331.

42 INTRODUCTION

first Sinhalese king. Most probably he accompanied a
party of Magadhese or other merchants.

It is recorded that from an early period vessels sailed
across the Bay of Bengal from various ports on the Ganges.
In the Jataka stories some are mentioned as passing down
the Ganges from Benares with traders, and being far out at
sea for several days, and even going to Suvanna Bhiinii (Bur-
ma) and back. Tamalitta was a famous port in early times
and for many centuries ; and there is a definite and credible
statement that vessels sailed direct from it to Ceylon in the
reign of Asoka, in the third century B.C. There is no
reason to suppose that similar voyages were not undertaken
long prior to the period during which the Jatakas were
being composed. If they are not mentioned in earlier
Buddhist works, this may have been merely owing to the
fact that their authors felt no interest in the trade of the
countries near the mouth of the Ganges.

In the presence of such evidence of the sea-going capa-
bilities of the vessels which sailed from the ports on the
Ganges, the statement of the Sinhalese histories that Wijaya
embarked at Baroach, on the western coast, whether accom-
panied by a large party of followers and numerous women
and children or not, cannot be credited. It is impossible
to beheve that any travellers who wished to proceed to
Ceylon in the fifth century B.C., from a district Is^ng between
Anga and Vanga, and probably within a few miles of a port
from which vessels sailed, would not step on board a ship
at their own doors, so to speak, rather than undertake an
arduous journey across several other countries, in order
to embark at a port more than eight hundred miles away in a
direct line, which when reached was still no nearer their
destination.

In any case, there is no likelihood that a large number of
women and children were taken, unless we are prepared to
accept the improbable hypothesis that a fleet of ships was
expressly chartered for the voyage. In the case of the
small vessels which ventured on such long trading expedi-
tions, every foot of storage space would be required for the
goods that were carried, and for the accommodation of the

INTRODUCTION 43

merchants who went to exchange these for the products of
the ports at which they called. It is most unlikely that
many other passengers were ever carried so far in Indian
ships in early times, notwithstanding fanciful tales of
imaginary ships with hundreds on board, in the Jataka
stories.

Nissanka-Malla and his brother do not claim that the
Sinhapura at which they were born ,was the city founded by
Wijaya's father. It is possible, however, that they could
trace some distant connexion with the Lala family, and
it has been noted already that Wijaya's great-great-grand-
father was said to be a king of Kalinga.

Note.

With regard to the exorcism of the flies, I give a relation of the
similar treatment of locusts in Abyssinia, by Father Francis Alvarez,
who visited that country in 1520, in the ^^suite of a Portuguese
Ambassador. The account is appended in Pory's translation of the
History of Africa, by Leo Africanus, 1600, p. 352. An appeal having
been made to Alvarez to drive away an enormous flight of locusts,
" which to our iudgement couered fower and twentie miles of lande,"
the following is his own record of the proceedings : —

"[And so I went to the Ambassadour, and told him, that it would
be very good to goe on procession, beseeching God that hee woulde
deliuer the countrie, who peraduenture in his great mercie might
heare vs. This liked the Ambassadour very well : and the day
following we gathered togither the people of the land, with all the
priests, and taking the consecrated stone, and the crosse, according
to their custome, aU we Portugals sung the Letanie, and appointed
those of the land, that they should lift vp their voices aloud as we
did, saying in their language Zio marina Christos, which is as much
to say, as Lord God haue mercy vpon vs : and with this manner of
inuocation we went ouer a peece of grounde, where there were
fieldes of wheate, for the space of a mile, euen to a little hill : and
heere I caused many of these locustes to be taken, pronouncing
ouer them a certaine coniuration, which I had about me in writing,
hauing made it that night, requesting, admonishing, and excom-
municating them, enioining them within the space of three howers
to depart towards the sea, or the lande of the Moores, or the desert
mountaines, and to let the Christians alone : and they not per-
forming this, I summoned and charged the birdes of heauen, the
beasts of the earth, and all sorts of tempests, to scatter, destroy.

44 INTRODUCTION

and eate vp their bodies : and to this effect I tooke a quantitie of
locusts, making this admonition to them present, in the behalf e
likewise of them absent,' and so giuing them Ubertie, I suffered
them to depart. It pleased God to heare us sinners, for in our re-
turne home, they came so thicke vpon our backes, as it seemed that
they woulde haue broken our heads, or shoulders, so hard they
strooke against vs, as if we had beene beaten with stones and cud-
gels, and in this sort they went towards the sea : The men, women,
and children remaining at home, were gotten vpon the tops, or
tarrasses of their houses, giuing God thankes that the locusts were
going away, some afore, and others followed. In the meane while
towardes the sea, there arose a great cloude with thunder, which
met them full in the teeth, and continued for the space of three
howers with much raine, and tempest, that filled all the riuers, and
when the raine ceased, it was a fearefuU thing to behold the dead
Locustes, which were more then two yardes [marginal note, or
fathomes] in height vpon the bankes of the riuers, and in some
riuers there were mightie heapes of them, so that the morning fol-
lowing there was not one of them found aliue vpon the earth."

* Agata anagata, as the early cave inscriptions say.

Part I

STORIES TOLD BY THE CULTIVATING
CASTE AND VAEDDAS.

No. I
The Making of the Great Earth

FROM the earliest time, the whole of this world, being
filled up and overflowed by a great rain, and being
completely destroyed, was in darkness. There were neither
men, nor Uving beings, nor an5^hing whatever.

During the time while it was in this state. Great Vishnu
thought, " In what manner, having lowered the water,
should the earth be established ? " Having thought this.
Great Vishnu went to the God Saman. Having gone there,
he asked at the hand of the God Saman, " What is the way
to establish this earth ? "

The God Saman replied, " There is no one among us
{gods] who can establish this earth."

Thereupon the God Great Vishnu asked, "Then who is
able to do it ? "

The God Saman said, " You must go to the residence of
Rahu ; he can do it."

After that, the God Great Vishnu went to the abode of
Rahu, and spoke to Rahu, the Asura Chief * : " Rahu,
Asura Chief, our residence has been swallowed up by water ;
on account of that can even you make us an earth ? "

Then Rahu, the Asura Chief, said, " Countless beings
having gone to the world of Brahma (i.e., having been
destroyed in the water), how can I descend into the water
which is there ? "

The God Great Vishnu asked, " In what way, then, can
you make the earth ? "

Rahu told him to put a lotus seed into the water.
• Asurendraya.

47

48 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

After that, the God Great Vishnu, having returned to this
world, placed a lotus seed in the water. Having placed
it there, in seven days the lotus seed sprouted.

Then the God Vishnu again went to the dwelling-place
of Rahu. Having gone there, he spoke to Rahu, the Asura
Chief : " The lotus plant has now sprouted."

Afterwards Rahu arose, and came with the God Vishnu
to this world. Having made ready to descend into the
water, he asked Great Vishnu, " What thing am I to bring
up from the bottom of the water ? "

Then Great Vishnu said, " I do not want any [special]
thing ; bring a handful of sand."

Rahu, having said " Ha " (Yes), descending along that
lotus stalk proceeded until he met with the earth. Having
descended to the earth in seven days, taking a handful of
sand he returned to the surface again in seven days more.
Having come there, he gave the handful of sand into the
hand of the God Great Vishnu.

After it was given, taking it and squeezing it in his hand,
the God Great Vishnu placed it on the water. Having
placed it there the God Great Vishnu made the resolution :
" This water having dried up, may the Earth be created."

Afterwards, that small quaiitity of sand not going to the
bottom, but turning and turning round on the surface of
the water, the water began to diminish. Thus, in that
manner, in three months and three-quarters of the moon,
the water having diminished, the earth was made.

After it was formed, this world was there in darkness for
a long time. [After the light had appeared], the God Great
Vishnu thought : " We must make men."

Having gone to the God Saman he said, " What is the
use of being the owner of this world when it is in this state ?
We must make men."

The God Saman said, " Let us two make them."

Then those two spoke to each other : " Let us first of
all make a Brahmana."

Sa37ing that, they n^ade a Brahmana from that earth, and
having given breath to the Brahmana those two told him
to arise. Then the Brahmana arose by the power of those

THE MAKING OF THE GREAT EARTH 49

Gods ; and having arisen, that Brahmana conversed with
those Gods.

Then the God Vishnu said, " Brahmana, for thy assist-
ance thou art to make for thyself a woman."

Afterwards the Brahmana by the power of those very
Gods inade a woman, and from that time men began to
increase in number up to to-day.
I North-western Province.

This is evidently a story of the last creation. In Hinduism there
is a series of four ages termed Yugas, each ended by a destruction
of the world by fire, which is quenched [by cataclysmal rainfall.
These are the Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali Yugas, their periods
being respectively 4,000, 3,000, 2,000, and 1,000 divine years.
There are also intermediate periods equal to one-tenth of each of
the adjoining! Yugas. A divine year being 360 times as long as a
human year, the whole series, called a Maha Yuga, amounts to
about 4,320,000 years {Vishnu Purana, Wilson, p. 24). When a
series is ended the order is reversed, that is, the Kali Yuga, which
is the present one, is followed by the Dwapara.

The Vishnu Purana, p. 12, thus describes the state of things before
the origina,! creation : " There was neither day nor night, nor sky
nor earth, nor darkness nor light, nor any other thing, save only
One " — " the Universal Soul," the All-God, Vishnu in the form of
Brahma,

His action is thus summarised : " Afiecting then the quality of
activity Hari [Vishnu], the Lord of all, himself becoming Brahma,
engaged in the creation of the universe."

At the end of the Yuga, " the same mighty deity, Janarddana,
invested with the quality of darkness, assumes the awful form of
Rudra, and swallows up the universe. Having thus devoured all
things, and converted the world into one vast ocean, the Supreme
reposes on his mighty serpent couch amidst the deep : he awakes
after a season, and again, as Brahma, becomes the author of creation
(V.P.. p. 19).

In the Katha Sarit Sdgara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 583, there were
two Danavas, a form of Asura, " invincible even by gods," who im-
peded Prajapati in his work of creation. The only way which the
Creator could hit upon to destroy them was to create two lovely
maidens, one black and one white. Each of the Danavas wished
to carry ofE both, so they fought over them and killed each other.

It is only in the Sinhalese story that we find an Asura assisting
in the creation. Rahu is usually known as a dark planetary sign,
a dragon's head, which endeavours to swallow the sun and moon,
and thus causes eclipses, at which time, only, it is seen. In the

50 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

account of the great Churning of the Ocean, it is evident that he
was supposed originally to have, or to be able to assume, a figure
indistinguishable from those of the Gods.

The story of the application of Vishnu for Rahu's assistance is
based bn the Indian notion that the Asuras were of more ancient
date than the Gods. The Maha Bharata states that they were the
elder brothers of the Gods, and were more powerful than the Gods,
who were unable to conquer them in their strongholds under the
sea. The God Saman is Indra, the elder brother of Vishnu.

According to the Maha Bharata, Vishnu assuming the form of a
boar raised the earth to the surface of the waters (which covered
it to the depth of one hundred yojanas), on his tusk, without the
aid of any other deity.

The following accounts of the state of things in very
early times are borrowed from The Orientalist, vol. iii., pp.
79 and 78, to which they were contributed by Mr. D, A.
Jayawardana.

" In the primitive good old days the sky was not so far
off from the earth as at present. The sun and moon in
their course through the heavens sometimes came in close
contact with the house-tops. The stars were stationed so
close to the earth that they served as lamps to the houses.

" Once upon a time, there was a servant-maid who was
repeatedly disturbed by the passing clouds when she was
sweeping the compound [the enclosure round the house],
and this was to her a real nuisance. One cloudy morning,
when this naughty girl was sweeping the compound as usual,
the clouds came frequently in contact with the broom-stick
and interfered with her work.

" Losing all patience she gave a smart blow to the firma-
ment with the broom-stick, saying, * Get away from hence.'
The sky, as a matter of course, was quite ashamed at the
affront ^ thus offered to it by a servant-girl, and flew away
far, far out of human reach, in order to avoid a similar
catastrophe again."

The second account is as follows : " Till a long period
after the creation, man did not know the use of most of the

' It is one of the greatest possible insults in the East to strike a
person with a broom. Even demons are supposed to be afraid of
being struck by it, and thus it is a powerful demon-scarer.

THE MAKING OF THE GREAT EARTH 51

vegetables now used by him for food. His food at first
consisted of some substance like boiled milk, which then
grew spontaneously upon the earth. This substance since
disappeared, and rice took its place, and grew abundantly
without the husk.

" The Jak fruit {Artocarpus integrifoUa), one of the prin-
cipal articles of food of the Sinhalese, was not even touched,
as it was thought to be poisonous. The God Sakra [Indra]
bethought himself of teaching mankind that Jak was not a
deadly fruit, but an article of wholesome food."

The story goes on to relate that, assuming the form of
an old man, he got a woman to boil some Jak seeds for him,
with injunctions not to eat them or she would die ; but the
smell being appetizing she first tasted one, and then ate a
quantity.

No. 2

The Sun, the Moon, and Great Paddy

IN a certain country there are a woman and a man, it is
said. There are also the children of those two persons,
the elder brother and younger brother and elder sister.
Well then, while these three persons were there, the man
haying died those children provided subsistence for the
mother of the three.

One day the three persons went to join a party of friends
in assisting a neighbour in his work.^ That mother stayed
at home. For that woman there was not a thing to eat.
Should those persons bring food, she eats ; if not, not. k=.i

When the three persons were eating the food provided
for the working party, the elder sister and the elder brother
having eaten silently, without even a [thought of the] matter
of their mother, came away home. The younger brother
thought, " Ane ! We three persons having eaten here, on
our going how about food for our mother ? I must take
some." Placing a similar quantity of cooked rice and a
little vegetable curry under the comer of his finger nail,
the three came back.

Then the mother asked at the hand of the elder sister,
" Where, daughter, is cooked rice and vegetable curry for
me ? " She said, " I have not brought any. Having indeed
eaten I came [empty-handed]."

Then the mother said to the daughter, '■ Thou wilt be
cooked in hell itself."

Having called the elder son she asked, " Where, son, is
the cooked rice and vegetable curry for me ? "

* A Kayiya, usually to provide help in clearing jungle, or plough-
ing, or reaping, for which no pay is given, but the party are fed
liberally.

52

THE SUN, THE MOON, AND GREAT PADDY 53

The son said, " Mother, I have not brought it. Having
indeed eaten, I came [empty-handed]."

Then the mother said to the son, " Be off, very speedily."

Having called the young younger brother she asked,
" Where, son, is cooked rice and vegetable curry for me ? "

Then that son said, " Mother, hold a pot." After that,
the mother brought it and eld it. The son struck down his
finger nail in it. Then the pot was filled and overflowed.

Afterwards the mother, having eaten the rice and curry,
gave authority to those three persons, to the elder brother,
to the younger brother, and to the sister older than both of
them.

Firstly, having called the elder sister she said, " Thou shalt
be cooked even in hell." That elder sister herself now hav-
ing become Great Paddy,i while in hell is cooked in mud.

She told the eldest son to go speedily. That elder brother
himself having become the Sun, goes very speedily. For
the Sun, in very truth {aettema), there is no rest. In the
little time in which the eyelids fall, the Sun goes seven
gawwas,2 they say. At the time when the Great Paddy is
ripening, the Sun goes across Qiarahin).^ Because it is
older than the Sun,* the Great Paddy represents the elder
sister.

Having called the younger son she said, " My son, go you
in the very wind {■pawanema) ^." That one himself having
become the Moon, now goes in the wind. For the Moon in
very truth there is not a difficulty, by the authority given
by the Mother.

North-western Province.

^ Ma Vi, the name of the largest variety of rice.

^ Twenty-eight miles. According to Indian reckoning of about
six winks to a second, as given in the Maha Bharata, this would be
an orbit of about 14,500,000 miles, with a diameter of 4,620,000
miles.

* That is, the sun rises in the latitude of the district where the
story was related. This would be within a day or two of February

32.

* I cannot explain this remark.

^ This is, where refreshing breezes blow.

No. 3

The Story of Senasura ^

IN a certain country a man having been stricken by the
evil influence (apaU) of Senasura, any cultivation
work or anything whatever which the man performs does
not go on properly.

The man having become very poor said, " I cannot stay
in this country ; I must go to another country " ; and
having gone away from that country he sat down at a
travellers' shed. During the time while he was there a
friend of the man's came there. That man, sitting down
in the travellers' shed, said, " Friend, where are you going ? "

Then the man said " What is it, friend ? Well then,
according to my reckoning there is no means of subsistence
for me. I am going away to some country or other, to
look if I shall obtain a livelihood." [He told him how
everything that he did failed, owing to the ill-will of
Senasura.]

Then the friend said, " Friend, don't you go in that way
I will tell you a good stratagem. Having gone back to
your village, when dry weather sets in cut chenas ; when
rain falls do rice field work."

The man having come back again to his village, began to
cut a chena. At the time when he was cutting the chena
rain rained; Then, having dropped the chena cutting, he
went to plough the rice field. Then dry weather again be-
gan to set in. Again having gone he chops the chena. Then
rain rained. Again having gone he ploughs the rice field.

1 The deity of the planet Saturn.

64

THE STORY OF SENASURA 55

In that manner he did the chena and rice field works, both
of them. Having done the work, the [crops in the] chena
and the rice field, both of them, ripened.

After that, Senasura said at the hand of the man, "What
of their ripening ! I will not give more than an amuna (57
bushels) from a stack. Let it be so settled {aswanu)."

Afterwards, having cut the rice crop, the man began to
make the stacks separately of two or three sheaves apiece.
Then having trampled out [the corn in] the stacks [by
means of buffaloes] at the rate of the amuna from the stack
— should there be one sheaf in it, an amuna ; should there
be two sheaves, an amuna— in that manner having trampled
out [the com in] the stacks he filled up two corn stores.
Having cut the millet in the chena he filled up two corn
stores of millet.

In that very country there is an astrologer (naekatrdla).
Having gone to him, he informed the astrologer of the evil
influence thg,t there was from Senasura [and how he had
outwitted him]. Then the astrologer said, " Until the time
when you die the evil influence of Senasura over you will
not be laid aside."

The man said, " Can you tell me the place where Senasura
is [and what I must say to hiin] ? "

The astrologer replied, " Senasura having taken a man's
disguise and come to your house, will talk with you. Then
say, ' The evil influence of Senasura has been over me. I
did a good trick for it. I worked in both a chena and a rice
field. I got the things into the corn stores. While staying
here eating them I can do cultivation again [in the same
way]."

Afterwards this man came home. While he was there,
on the day foretold by the astrologer Senasura came. The
man having given him sitting accommodation asked,
" Where are you going '? '

Then Senasura said, "It is I indeed whom they call
Senasura, the Divine KingJ Because of it tell me any
matter you require."

So the man said, " What is the matter I require ? I have
become very poor, having been stricken by the evil influence

56 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

of Senasura. Now then, I want an assistance from you for
that."

Afterwards Senasura, the Divine King, having given
the man a book said, " Without showing this book to any-
body, place it in your house. Remain here, and make
obeisance [to me] three times a day, having looked and
looked into [the instructions in] the book. From any
journey on which you may go, from any work you may do,
you will obtain victory [that is, success]."

Having said this, Senasura, the Divine King, went away.
After that, having remained there in the very manner told
by Senasura, the man became a person of much substance.

North-western Province.

In Indian Folk-Tales (Gordon), p. 6i, a Jackal is represented
as outwitting the great deity Siva or MaMdeo, by telling him
that he was Sahadeo, the father of Mahadeo. See the notes at
the end of Nos. 39 and 75.

No. 4

The Glass Princess

IN a certain country there are seven Princes, the sons
of a King. When the seven persons had grown up,
messengers were sent to find the places where there were
seven Princesses to be taken in marriage by them. They
obtained intelligence that there was a kingdom where
they were to be met with.

After that, the seven portraits of the seven Princes
having been painted, two or three ministers were summoned,
and sent with the instructions, "Go to that kingdom, and
observe if the seven Princesses are there. If they are there,
take the portraits of the seven Princesses and come back
with them."

The ministers having gone there and looked, found that
seven Princesses were there. So they went to the King,
the father of the Princesses. After they had come, the
King having given quarters to the ministers, and having
given them food and drink, asked, " Where are you going ? "
Then the ministers said, " On account of news that you
have seven Princesses, as there are seven Princes of the
King of our country we have come, bringing the portraits
of the seven Princes to show you, in order to marry the
Princesses to those seven." The King and the Princesses
having looked at the portraits were pleased with them.

Afterwards, a suitable occasion for the marriage having
been appointed, the portraits of the Princesses were painted,
and given into the hands of the ministers, and they were
sent away with them.

The party having brought them, showed them to the

67

58 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

King and the seven Princes. The King and the seven
Princes being pleased with those persons after they had
shown the portraits, the King of that city, on the very day
appointed els the date for setting out for the marriage,
having decorated an elephant for the King and Queen,
and both of them having mounted on it, and having deco-
rated seven other elephants for the seven Princes, the party
made ready to go.

Then the youngest Prince of aU, having placed his sword
on the back of the elephant, and made obeisance to his
father, said, " I will not go. Should the Princess come
after being married to the sword, let her come. If not,
let her simply stop there." Having said this he did not
go ; he sent only the elephant, and the elephant and all
the other persons went.

Having gone there the six Princes were married to the
six Princesses. Then the King whose Princesses they were,
asked, " Is there not a Prince for the youngest Princess ? "

When he asked this, the King whose son was the Prince
replied, " There is my youngest Prince. He has not come.
If she will come after being married to the sword placed
on the back of this elephant, he said she is to come ; if
not, he said that she is to remain here."

The King whose Princess she was, was not satisfied with
that. What of that ? The youngest Princess was con-
tented, and said, ". Even a deaf man or a lame man would
be good enough for me. Therefore I must be married."
So having been married to the sword she came away with
the others.

The Prince who did not go, but stayed at home, knew that
there was a pool on the way, and that there was also a Cobra
which had charge of that pool. The Prince was well aware
that if the people who went to the marriage came there,
and being thirsty drank the water, that Cobra would ask
for a human offering. How was that ? A deity came to
the Prince in a dream and told him. Having learnt this,
the Prince went, and at the time when they were coming
hid himself near the pool, and remained there.

Then all the party having come there drank the water.

THE GLASS PRINCESS 59

Having drunk it, when they were setting out to come away,
a large Cobra which had been in a rock cave near by, came
out, and said, " Because you drank water from my pool
one person must remain here as an offering to me. If not,
I shall not permit even one of you to go."

After that, the youngest Prince who had gone near and
hidden himself came forward,*and saying, " I will stay as
the human offering ; go you away," he started off all that
marriage party, and sent them to their village. He said
to the Princess who had come after being married to his
sword, " Until whatever time it may be when I return, go
and stay at the palace of mine which is there. There are
servants at it. Set the party of them to work, and eat and
drink in great contentment just as though I were there."
After he had said this, the party returned to the city, and
the youngest Prince went with the Cobra to the cave.

After they had gone there, the Cobra said to the Prince,
" There is an ulcer on my forehead. You may go after
curing the ulcer. Because of your curing it I shall not
require a human offering."

The Prince said, " It is good," and continuing to eat the
things for which it provided the expenses, stayed there.
Twice a day he washed and washed the ulcer, while applying
medicine to it, but it did not heal.

Afterwards the Cobra said, " There is a certain daughter
of the King of a city, called the Glass Princess. The Princess
takes any disguise she likes and goes through the sky, sup-
ported by her power of fishing through the air. The Princess
knows a medicine by which, if it should be applied by her
own hand, my ulcer will become healed ; otherwise it will
not heal, and there will be no going to your village for you."
The Prince replied, " It is good. I will go and bring the
Glass Princess."

Having said this, he set off to go to the city where the
Glass Princess lived. Having hurried along the road which
led in that direction, there was a river to which he went.
When he looked up the river he saw some rats coming
floating in the water. Then what does he do ? He seizes
all those few rats, and goes and places them on the bank.

6o VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

After he had put them there the rats said, " Ane ! O
Lord, if Your Majesty should require any assistance, be
pleased to think of us ; then we will come and stay with
you, and assist you." The Prince said, " It is good," and
went to the city in which the Glass Princess dwelt.

Having come there, being without a place to stay at he
went to the spot where a widow-mother was stopping, and
said, " Ane ! Mother, give me a mat to sleep on."

The widow-mother said, " It is good, son. Remain here,
I am alone here, therefore it will be good for me also."

Then the Prince said, " If so, mother, cook and give me
a little rice. Having obtained some money to-morrow, I
will bring it and give you it." The old woman having heard
his words, cooked and gave him a little rice.

When she had given it and he had eaten, the Prince asked
that old woman, " Mother, what are the new things that
are happening at this city ? "

The old woman replied, " What ! Son, the new matters
at this city are like those of other cities indeed ; but there
is one new affair at this city. If so, what is it ? The
daughter, called the Glass Princess, of the King of this city
remains an [un wedded] Princess. The Princess, creating
any disguise she wants, can go through the sky sustained
by her power of flight through the air. Through the beauty
of her figure she is a very celebrated person. Because of
that, many royal Princes have come to ask to marry the
Princess. Having come, they are asked, ' What have; you
come for ? ' When they have said, ' We have come to take
this Princess in marriage,' the King puts on the hearth a
very great cauldron of water, and having made it boil tells
them to bathe in it without making the water lukewarm.
There is a large iron tree in the open space in front of the
palace. Having bathed in the water, he tells them to saw
the iron tree in two. If they do not bathe in the water and
cut it in two, he does not permit the Princes to go away ; he
beheads them there and then, and casts them out."

The Prince asked the old woman, " Mother, can no one
go to the place where the Glass Princess is stas^ng ? "
The old woman said, " Ane ! Son, even a bird which passes

' ' THE GLASS PRINCESS 6i

along in the air above cannot go to the place where the Glass
Princess is."

Then the Prince asked, " Mother, why do they say that
the Princess is the Glass Princess ? "

The old woman said, " O son, they call her the Glass
Princess. The bed on which the Princess sleeps is a bed
of glass throughout. Glass is fixed all round the bed in
such a manner that even the wind cannot get to her.^ Be-
cause of that, they say that she is the Glass Princess."

The Prince asked, " Mother, at what time does the Princess
eat rice at night ? "

The old woman said, " son, at night water for bathing,
and cooked rice, having gone there for the Princess, they
are placed in the upper story where the Princess sleeps
alone. When the Princess has been sleeping at night, at
about eight she awakes, and after bathing in the water eats
rice. Before that she does not get up."

Then the Prince, after listening to all these words, asked
for a mat, and went off to sleep at the travellers' shed which
was in front of the old woman's house. Having gone there,
while he was lying down he thought, " Ane ! O Gods, in any
case you must grant me an opportimity of going to the
place where that Princess is." Then while he was thinking,
" Ane ! Will even those rats that I took up that day out
of the river and placed on the bank, become of assistance to
me in this matter ? " he fell asleep.

After that, those rats, collecting thousands of rats besides,
came there before the Prince awoke, and having come near
the Prince while he was sleeping, waited until he awoke.
When the Prince awoke and looked about, he saw that rats,
thousands in number, had come and were there.

The rats asked the Prince : " O Lord, what assistance does
Your Majesty want us to give ? "

The Prince said, " I want you to excavate a tunnel, of
a size so that a man can go along it erect, to the upper story
of the house in which the Glass Princess is sta5dng, and to
hand it over without completing it, leaving a very little

* The narrator understood this to mean that large uptight sheets
of glass were fixed round the bed.

62 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

unfinished. It was on account of this that I thought of
you." Then the rats went, and having dug it out that night,
finished it and handed it over, and went away.

The Prince having been in the travellers' shed until it
became light, took the mat and went to the widow-mother.
He gave her one masurama and said, " Here, mother, this
is given for the articles I obtained. Bring things for you
and me, and in order that I may go and get something to-
day also, quickly cook and give me a little rice." The old
woman speedily cooked and gave it. The Prince having
eaten it, during the whole day walked round about the city.

At night he went along the timnel to the upper story where
the Princess was. Having gone there, when he thought of
looking in the direction of the Princess he could not through
dif&dence, it is said. The Princess was asleep on the glass
bed ; a lamp shone brightly.

After that, the Prince having rubbed soap in the water
which was ready for the Glass Princess, and washed in it,
and eaten half the rice that was set on the table, and having
eaten a mouthful of betel that was in the betel box, left
the room without speaking, and went away after closing the
opening through which he had come.

The Princess arose at about eight, and having gone to
bathe in the water, when she looked at it saw that soap had
been rubbed in the water, and some one had washed in it.
Then she went to the table on which was the rice, and when
she looked half the rice had been eaten. So the Princess
having returned without eating the rice, lay down and
thought, " A much cleverer person than I, indeed, has done
this work. Except a deity, no man can come to the place
where I am sta3dng. I shall seize that thief to-morrow."
Having thought that, she went to sleep.

The Prince having come away, and having been asleep in
the travellers' shed, in the day-time went to the old womtin
and ate. Then having returned to the tunnel and slept
there, he went that night also, and washed in the water emd
ate, and came away. That night, also, the Princess being
asleep was unable to seize him.

The Prince came back, and having slept that night, also.

THE GLASS PRINCESS 63

at the travellers' shed, in the day time asked the old woman
for rice and ate it. Then he returned to the tunnel, and
after sleeping in it, at about twelve went and washed in
the water, and ate the rice. After eating betel he came away.
The Princess being asleep on that night also, was unable to
seize him.

After that, what does the Princess do ? At night, prick-
ing her finger with a needle, and rubbing lime-juice in the
-place, she remained awake blowing it [on account of the
smarting]. That night, also, the Prince went. The Princess
having seen the Prince enter, took a sword in her hand,
after awaking as though she had been asleep. Having seen
that the figure of the Prince was beautiful, and being pleased
with it, she closed her eyelids, pretending to be asleep.

The Prince knew very well that the Princess was awake.
Now, as on other nights, he went looking on the ground,
and having soaped himself, washed himself in the water.
Then having come to the table, he ate the rice. While he
was eating it, the Princess, taking the sword, arose, and
having come towards him, asked, " Who are you ? "

The Prince asked, " Who are you ? "

The Princess said, " I am she whom they call the Glass
Princess."

Then the Prince also said, " I am he whom they call the
youngest Prince of the King of such and such a city."

After that, the Prince and Princess ate the food, and
having talked much, the Princess asked, " For what purpose
have you come ? "

The Prince replied, " I have not come for anything else but
to take you away."

The Princess said, " Our hiding and going off would not
be proper. Here, put away this jewelled ring and lock of
hair. To-morrow morning, having gone to our father the
King, say, ' I have come to marry your Princess.'

" Then saying, ' It is good,' he will boil a cauldron of water .
and give you it, and tell you to bathe in it. And he will
show you an iron tree, and tell you to saw it. When he has
given you the water, put this jewelled ring in the water and
bathe ; it will be like cold water. When he has shown you

64 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

the iron tree, pull this lock of hair across it ; then it will
saw it in two. After that, we two having been married,
let us go to your city."

Then taking the ring and the lock of hair, the Prince went
back to the travellers' shed.

Next day, the Prince in the very manner the Princess told
him, came and spoke to the King. The King said, "It is
good," and gave him those two tasks. The Prince performed
both the tasks.

After that, the King, being pleased, pubUcly notified the
celebration of their marriage, and said, " If you wish to live
here, stay here ; if you wish to go, summon the Princess
[to accompany you] and go." Afterwards, having performed
the marriage ceremony, he called the Princess, and went
to the place where that Cobra was stasdng.

There she applied the medicine to the Cobra's ulcer,
and it healed. The Cobra, being pleased, gave the two per-
sons a hidden treasure consisting of gold, silver, pearls, and
gems. After that, they went to the Prince's city.

Thus, by bringing this Princess the Prince had two Prin-
cesses. The King, the Prince's father, was pleased because
the Prince who went as the offering and the Princess had
got married, and had returned. Having eaten the marriage
feast they remained there.

When those six elder brothers looked they saw that their
Princesses were not so beautiful as the Glass Princess. Be-
cause of it, the six persons spoke together about killing the
youngest Prince and taking the Glass Princess ; and they
tried to kill the Prince. The Glass Princess, knowing of it,
told that Prince, and the two Princesses and the Prince set
off to go to another King.

While they were going in the midst of a forest, the Vaedda
King who dwelt in that forest saw this Glass Princess. In
order to take possession of the Princess, he seized the three
persons, and having put them in a house, prepared to kill
the Prince.

So the Glass Princess, knowing this, became a mare, and
placing the Prince on her back, and telling the other Princess
to hang by her tail, went through the sky, and descended

THE GLASS PRINCESS 65

near another city. Having gone to the city and taken
labourers, they engaged in rice cultivation. When they
had been there a little while the King of the city died.

After his death they decorated the royal tusk elephant,
and set off with it in search of a new King. While they were
going along taking it through the streets, the elephant went
and knelt near this Prince. Then all the men having made
obeisance, and caused the Prince to bathe, placing the
Prince and the two Queens on the back of the elephant,
went and stopped at the palace, and he became King.

When he had been ruling a little time, there was no rain
at the city of the King the Prince's father, and that country
became abandoned. Those six Princes and their six Queens,
and his father the King, and his mother, all these persons,
being reduced to poverty, came to an almshouse which this
King had established, bringing firewood to sell.

There this King having seen them, recognising them,
came back after summoning his father the King, and his
mother, to the palace. He told them, " Because those six
elder brothers and their six Queens tried to kill me in order
that my elder brothers might seize and carry off the Glass
Princess, I came away from the city, and was seized by a
Vaedda King, but I escaped and came here." Then saying,
" There is the place where I was cultivating rice. Go there,
and cultivate rice and eat," he sent the brothers to that
place. Having sent them, he gave them this advice : " For
the crime that you tried to commit by killing me, that has
befallen you. Therefore behave well now."

After that, his father the King, his mother the Queen, the
King and the two Queens, those five persons, remained at
the palace.

North-central Province.

Although the whole story apparently has not been found in India,
several of the incidents in it occur in Indian folk-tales.

I have not met with the marriage to the sword in them, but in
The Indian Antiquary, vol, xx, p. 423, it is stated by Mr. Prendergast
that in southern India, among two Telugu castes, " the custom of
sending a sword to represent an unavoidably absent bridegroom at

F

66 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

a wedding is not uncommon. It is considered allowable among
other Hindus also."

In The Story of Madana K&ma Rija (called by the translator,
Pandita NateSa SSstri, The Dmvidian Nights), p. 43, the Kings of
Mathurapuii and Vijayanagaram caused the portraits of their
respective son and daughter to be painted, and sent envoys with
them in search of royal persons resembling them. The envoys met
at a river, exchanged pictures there, and returned to their masters,
who were satisfied with the portraits, and caused the wedding of
the Prince and Princess to be celebrated at the latter's home, Vijaya-
nagaram.

In the same work, p. 12, a Prince in the form of a parrot, which
was confined in a cage in the sleeping apartment of a Princess, on
two successive nights resumed his human form, and smeared sandal
and scent over the Princess while she slept, and then became a
parrot once more. On the third night she was awake, and he told
her his history.

At page 103, also, the King of Udayagiri, father of a Prince who
had run off when about to be beheaded, having been deprived of
his kingdom by the King of the Otta country, was reduced to selling
firewood for a living, together with his wife and six sons. They
came for this purpose to the city over which the Prince had become
sovereign, and were discovered by him and provided for.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 93, a thief gained
access to the bedroom of a Princess by means of a tunnel.

In Indian Fairy Tales (Thornhill), p. 122 ff., a Prince, riding a
magical wooden horse, visited a Princess nightly while she was
asleep, and pricking his arm each night, wrote " I love you," in
blood on her handkerchief. Although she tried to keep awake, for
six nights after the first one she was asleep when he came. On the
next night she scratched her finger with a needle and rubbed salt
into the wound, so that the pain might keep her awake. When he
entered the room she started up and inquired who he was, and
how and why he had come.

In Indian Fairy Tales, Ganges Valley (Stokes), p. 163, the cutting
of the tree trunk with the hair of the Princess occurs.

In the Panchatantra (Dubois), an elephant released rats when
caught and imprisoned in earthen pots, and the rats in their turn
served him by filling up with earth the pit in which he had fallen.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara, p. 360 ff., a Rakshasa King gave three
tasks to the Prince who wished to marry his daughter. She assisted
him by means of her magical powers, and he accomplished them
successfully.

No. 5

The Frog Prince

AT a city there is a certain King ; a widow lives at a
house near his palace. She subsists by going to this
royal palace and pounding rice there ; having handed it
over she takes away the rice powder and lives on it.

During the time while she was getting a living in this way
she bore a frog, which she reared there. When it was grown
up, the King of that city caused this proclamation to be
made by beat of tom-toms : "I will give half my
kingdom, and goods amounting to an elephant's load, to
the person who brings the Jewelled Golden Cock ^ that is at
the house of the Rakshasi (Ogress)."

Every one said of it that it could not be done. The
widow's Frog having heard the King's proclamation, said
to the widow, " Mother, I will bring the Jewelled Golden
Cock. Cook a bundle of rice and give me it." Having
heard the Frog's words, the widow cooked a biuidle of rice
and gave it to him.

The Frog took the bundle of rice, and hanging it from
his shoulder went to an Indi (wild Date) tree, scraped the
leaf off a Date spike (the mid-rib of the leaf), and strung the
rice on it. While going away after stringing it, the Frog
then becanie like a very good-looking royal Prince, and a
horse and clothing for him made their appearance there.

■ Mini Ran Kukula. The spelling in this and other instances is
according to the manuscripts, except in such words as Rakshasa
and Rakshasi, the village forms of which are Rasaya and Rasi ; and
Br&hmana, which is usually given as Brahmomaya.

67

68 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Putting on the clothes he mounted the horse, and making it
bound along he went on till he came to a city.

Hearing that he had arrived, the King of that city prepared
quarters for this Prince to stay at, and having given him
ample food and drink, asked, " Where art thou going ? "

Then the Prince said : " The King of our city has made
a proclamation by beat of tom-toms, that he will give half
his kingdom and an elephant's load of gold to the person
who brings him the Jewelled Golden Cock that is at the
Rakshasi's house. Because of it I am going to fetch the
Jewelled Golden Cock." -"i

The King, being pleased with the Prince on account of it,
gave him a piece of charcoal. " Should you be unable to
escape from the Rakshasi while returning after taking the
Jewelled Golden Cock, tell this piece of charcoal to be created
a fire-fence, and cast it down," he said. Taking it, he went
to another city.

The King of that city in that very manner having prepared
quarters, and made ready and given him food and drink,
asked, " Where art thou going ? " The Prince replied in
the same words, " I am going to bring the Jewelled Golden
Cock that is at the house of the Rakshasi." That King
also being pleased on account of it gave him a stone, " Should
you be unable to escape from the Rakshasi, tell this stone
to be created a mountain, and cast it down," he said.

Taking the charcoal and the stone which those two Kings
gave him, he went to yet another city. The King also in that
very manner having given him quarters, and food and
drink, asked, " Where art thou going ? " The Prince in
that very way said, " I am going to bring the Jewelled
Golden Cock." That King also being greatly pleased gave
him a thorn. " Should you be unable to escape from the
Rakshasi, tell a thorn fence to be created, and cast down this
thorn," he said.

On ihe next day he went to the house of the Rakshasi.
She was not at home ; the Rakshasi's daughter was there.
That girl having seen the Prince coming and not knowing
him, asked, " Elder brother, elder brother, where ere you
going ? "

THE FROG PRINCE 69

The Prince said, " Younger sister, I am not going any-
where whatever. I came to beg at your hands the Jewelled
Golden Cock which you have got."

To that she replied, " Elder brother, to-day indeed I am
unable to give it. To-morrow I can. Should my mother
come now she will eat you ; for that reason come and hide
yourself."

Calling him into the house, she put him in a large trunk
at the bottom of seven trunks, and shut him up in it.

After a little time had passed, the Rakshasi came back.
Having come and seen that the Prince's horse was there,
she asked her daughter, " Whose is this horse ? "

Then the Rakshasi's daughter replied, " Nobody's what-
ever. It came out of the jungle, and I caught it to ride on."

The Rakshasi having said, " If so, it is good," came in.
While lying down to sleep at night the sweet odour of the
Prince having reached the Rakshasi, she said to her daughter,
" What is this, Bola ? ^ A smell of a fresh human body is
coming to me."

Then the Rakshasi's daughter said, " What, mother !
Do you say so ? You are constantly eating fresh bodies ;
how can there not be an odour of them ? "

After that, the Rakshasi, taking those words for the
truth, went to sleep.

At dawn on the following day, as soon as she arose the
Rakshasi went to seek human flesh for food. After she had
gone, the Rakshasa-daughter, taking out the Prince who
was shut up in the box, told that Prince a device on going
away with the Jewelled Golden Cock : " Elder brother, if
you are going away with the Cock, take some cords and
fasten them round my shoulders. Having put them round
me, take the Cock, and having mounted the horse go oft,
making him bound quickly. When you have gone I shall
cry out. Mother comes when I give three calls. After she
has come, loosening me will occupy much time ; then you
will be able to get away."

In the way she said, the Prince tied the Rakshasa-

* A word without any special meaning in English, often used in
addressing a person familiarly and somewhat disrespectfully.

70 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

daughter, and taking the Jewelled Golden Cock mounted
the horse, and making it bound quickly came away.

As that Rakshasa-daughter said, while she was calling
out the Rakshasi came. Having come, after she looked
about [she found that] the Rakshasa-daughter was tied, and
the Jewelled Golden Cock had been taken away. After
she had asked, " Who was it ? Who took it ? " the Rakshasa-
daughter said, " I don't know who it was." After that, she
very quickly unfastened the Rakshasa-daughter, and both
of them came rurming to eat that Prince.

The Prince was unable to go quickly. While going, the
Prince turned round, and on looking back saw that this
Rakshasi and the Rakshasa-daughter were coming running
to eat that Prince.

After that, he cast down the thorn which the above-
mentioned King of the third city gave him, having told a
thorn fence to be created. A thorn fence was created.
Having jumped over it they came on.

After that, when he had put down the piece of stone which
the King of the second city gave him, and told a mountain
to be created, a mountain was created. They sprang over
that moutntain also, and came on.

After that, he cast down the charcoal which the King of
the first city gave him, having told a fire fence to be created.
In that very manner a fire fence was created. Having come
to it, while jumping over it both of them were burnt and
died.

From that place the Prince came along. While coming,
he arrived at the Indi tree on which he had threaded
the rice, and having taken off it all that dried-up rice he
began to eat it. On coming to the end of it, the person who
was Uke that Prince again became a Frog.

After he. became a Frog, the clothes that he was wearing,
and the horse, and the Jewelled Golden Cock vanished.
Out of grief on that account that Frog died at that very
place.

Northrwestern Province.

In the Jataka story No. 159 (vol. ii, p. 23) there is a tale of a
Golden Peacock which lived upon a golden hill. A King got it

THE FROG PRINCE 71

caught and informed it that the reason was because " Your colour
is golden ; therefore (so it is said) those who eat your flesh become
young and live so for ever."

In the story No. 491 (vol. iv, p. 210) the chick is described as
" of the colour of gold, with two eyes like gunja fruit, and a coral
beak, and three red streaks ran down his throat and down the middle
of his back." On p. 212, it is said that " they who eat his flesh will
be ever young and immortal." This one Uved in the Himalayas
for seven thousand years.

In The Story of Madana Kama Raja (NateSa Sastrl), p. 56,' a
Queen bore a Tortoise Prince who had the power of leaving his
shell. At p. 141, a Queen also bore a Tortoise, which was reared
by her, and eventually went in search of divine Parijata flowers
{Erythrina indica) from a tree which grew in Indra's heaven. He
seems to have been a turtle and not a tortoise, being described as
swimming for weeks across the Seven Seas. He climbed Udayagiri,
the Mountain of the Dawn, and blocked the way of the Sun-god
(who rises from behind it), in honour of whom he uttered 1,008
praises. Pleased with this, the deity gave him a splendid divine
body like a man's, and the power to resume his tortoise shape at
will ; he directed him to a sage, who sent him to another, and this
one to a third, by whose advice he secured the love and assistance
of a divine nymph, an Apsaras, by concealing her robes when a
party of them were bathing. With her aid he obtained the heavenly
flowers.

In Old Deccan Days, Ganges Valley (Frere), p. 69, a Prince, using
a wand belonging to a Rakshasi, created in order to stop her pursuit,
a river, a mountain, and apparently a forest. Lastly, by throwing
down three of her hairs that he had secured he set the trees on fire,
and she was burnt in the flames.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), p. 360 ff., the daughter of a
R&kshasa King gave the Prince who wanted to marry her " some
earth, some water, some thorns, and some fire, and her own fleet
horse," telling him how to use them. He was chased by the brother
of the King, whom he went to invite to the wedding. When he
threw down the earth a mountain was produced behind him ; the
water became a great river ; the thorns a dense thorny wood. When
the Rakshasa emerged from the wood and vras coming on, the Prince
threw down the fire, which set the bushes and trees in front of hiin
ablaze, and finding this difficult to cross he returned home, " tired
and terrified."

No. 6
The Millet Trader

AT a certain city two men were cutting jungle, it is said.
Having cut it for many days, one man said, " Friend,
I will go and bring millet ^ to sow in this chena clearing ;
you continue to cut the j ungle. ' ' The other man said " Ha "
(Yes), and that man went to seek millet.

Having gone to a village, he went along asking the way
to a house where there was millet. After he had gone there
it became night, so he remained in a shed at the house.
A lucky hour had been fixed by astrology for cutting the
hair [for the first time] of a child at the house, on the follow-
ing day after that.

Having told at the hand of his wife to put rice in water
[to clean it], and to cook cakes from it, the man of the house
that evening went to the watch-hut in his chena. The
woman having pounded the rice and cooked cakes, selected
the best cakes and put them in the rice mortar in order to
give them to another man. The millet trader in the shed
remained there looking on.

Afterwards the man who went to the watch hut returned,
and when he was eating the cakes said, " Give a couple of
cakes from them to that millet trader." Then the woman
having selected burnt, very burnt ones, and given them
to the millet trader, the trader saying, " I cannot bite these,"
put the cakes on the others in the rice mortar, and poimded
them. The woman scowled at the millet trader, but because
her husband was present she was unable to say anything,

' Amu (Paspalum scrobiculatum), the Tamil Varaku, a small
grain cultivated in jungle clearings.

THE MILLET TRADER 73

so she remained silent. The millet trader, having pounded
all the cakes and eaten, tied up the surplus ones and put
them aside.

After that, the man went again to the watch hut. Then
that woman quickly put a gill of rice in water, and having
pounded it into flour and very hurriedly cooked cakes, placed
them in the house, and lay down in it.

The millet trader awoke, and while he was there looking
about, saw a man coming. Arising quickly, he came to the
open space in front of the house and coughed. Then the
man, thinking " Perhaps the man is at the house," went
back again.

After that, the millet trader went inside the house. That
woman taking those cakes gave them in the dark to the millet
trader, and said, " Ando ! When I was cooking cakes I
put the best cakes in the rice mortar in order to give them
to you. Then, after being in the watch hut he (the husband)
came, and while eating the cakes said to me, ' Give a couple of
cakes to that millet trader ' ; so I gave them. After that,
the millet trader, that Rodiya, having put the cakes in the
rice mortar that was full of the best cakes, pounded them
and ate. Then I again put a gill of rice into water, and
pounded it into flour, sa5dng that you will come ; and only
just now finished cooking."

The millet trader said, " Ha. It is good," and ate.

Afterwards the woman said, " Now then, are we not
cutting the child's hair to-morrow ? Now, what will you
give on account of it ? "

The millet trader said, " What have I got to give ? When
coming for millet I only brought four tuttu." ^

Then the woman, sa3dng, " Be off ! Be off ! Ro^iyS !
Are you the millet trader, Bola ? " drove him away.

When he had gone back to the shed, ^he again put a gill of
rice in water, and having pounded it and very rapidly cooked
cakes and brought them into the house, lay down.

Afterwards, while the millet trader was there looking
about, he again saw that man coming, so he arose quickly,

• Three halfpence.

74 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

and came to the open space in front of the house and
coughed. That man again went away.

After that, the millet trader went into the house again.
That woman rose quickly, and gave those cakes to him, and
said to the man, " Ando ! When I was cooking cakes to
give to you I put the best cakes in the rice mortar. After-
wards he came from the watch hut, and while eating the
cakes said to me, ' Give a couple of cakes to that millet
trader.' So I gave them. Afterwards that Rodiya, putting
the cakes in the rice mortar which was full of the best cakes,
pounded them and ate. Then I again put a gill of rice in
water, and cooked more cakes. Then, while I was looking
out for you, some one like you came in the dark. I gave
them to him. While he was eating them I said, ' Now
then, are we not cutting the child's hair to-morrow ? What
will you give ? ' That Rodiya said, ' Only the four tuttu
that I brought for millet.' Then I got to know who it was.
I drove him away, and again put a gill of rice in water, and
pounded it, and I have only just finished cooking more
cakes."

The millet trader, saying, " Ha. It is good," a.te the
cakes.

Then the woman said, " Now then, are we not cutting the
child's hair to-morrow ? What will you give ? "

The millet trader said, " If you should ask me even another
time, still the same four tuttu."

The woman saying, " Be off ! Be off ! Millet trader,
Ro4iya ! Hast come again, thou ! " drove him away. Then
it became light.

Afterwards, the man who went to the watch hut came,
and handed over the millet to the millet trader. On his
giving it, the millet trader, tying it up in two bundles and
placing themon his head, set off to go into the house.

That man saw it, and asked, " Where are you going
there ? "

The millet trader repUed, " I don't know. During the
whole of last night they were going and coming along this
very way, so I thought, ' Maybe this is a high road.' "

The man said, " Put down the packages of millet there,"

THE MILLET TRADER 75

and having gone to the millet store-room, and handed over a
greater quantity from the millet in it, beat that woman.

From there the millet trader went to another village,
and sitting down at a house unfastened that package, of
pounded cakes, and was eating them. A woman who was
looking on said, " Ade ! What are you eating ? "

The trader said, " They are pounded cakes of our
country."

The woman saying, " The colour of them is good indeed ;
give me some to look at," begged and got some.

After eating them she said, " A^e ! These millet cakes
have a sweet taste ; they are indeed good."

The trader replied, " In our quarter the millet is of that
very sort ; let us go there together if you like."

The woman said " Ha " and having taken out all the
effects in the house placed them in the jungle, ready JEor
taking when she went.

Afterwards, taking those things, as they were getting very
far away the man said, " What have you forgotten ? Con-
sider well."

The woman replied, " I have not forgotten anything. I
only forgot my flowered hair comb. It is of the pattern of
my flowered hair pin."

The trader said, "To be without a flowered hair comb is
not proper in my country. I shall be here ; you go and
fetch it. If I should not be here on your return, call me,
saying, ' Day-before- Yesterday ! Day-before- Yesterday ! '
My name is Day-before- Yesterday {Peredd)."

Then the woman came running home. When she returned,
taking the flowered hair comb, the man was not there.
So sa5dng, " Day-before- Yesterday ! Day-before- Yesterday ! "
the woman called and called. The man was not there.

The woman returned home, weeping and weeping. While
she. was there, her husband, having gone somewhere or other,
came back, and asked, " What are you crying for ? "

The woman said, " He who was taking millet, Day-before-
Yesterday, plundered the house."

The man said, " If he plundered the house day before
yesterday, why didst thou not tell me yesterday ? "

76 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The woman replied, " Not day before yesterday. He
who was taking millet, Day-bef ore- Yesterday."

Then the man said, " Isn't that just what I'm sa5dng ?
When he plundered the house day before yesterday, why
didst thou not tell me yesterday ? " Having said this, he
beat the woman.

When the millet trader, taking the effects and the bundles
of millet, went from there carr5dng his load, he came to
another village. On going to a house, a woman was there
weeping and weeping.

As the man was placing the effects and the millet bundles
on the veranda of the house, he said, " Appe ! I have
been to the other world and back," ^ and laying them on the
veranda, said, " What are you crying for, mother ? "

The woman said, " My daughter died six days ago. When
I think of her I am weeping." Then she asked the millet
trader, " Ane ! My Latti went to the other world ; did
you meet her there ? "

The millet trader said, " Don't cry, mother. I did meet
her there. She is now in the other world. I have taken in
marriage that very Latti. I have come for Latti's things
that she puts on her arms and neck. She told me to
come."

The woman quickly arose, and having cooked abundantly
for the trader, and given him to eat, he said, " Mother, I
must go immediately. Where is father-in-law ? "

" He went to plough ; wait till he comes," she said.

" I cannot," he said. " It is our wedding feast to-morrow.
I must be off now to go to the wedding."

So she gave the trader the silver and golden things for
placing on her daughter's arms and neck, also. Then the
trader taking the bimdles of millet, the effects, and the things
for the arms and neck, went away.

After that, when the woman's husband who had gone to

1 Elawa gihin melawa awa, " Having gone to that world 1 came
to this world." This is a common saying, meaning in village talk,
" What a long and tiring journey I have had." According to the
Rev. C. Alwis it also means, " I almost died, and recovered." {The
Orientalist, vol. i, p. 62.)

THE MILLET TRADER 77

plough came, the woman was laughing. Seeing it, he asked,
" What are you laughing at ? "

The woman replied, " Bolan, why shouldn't I laugh ?
Our son-in-law came."

" What son-in-law ? " the man asked.

The woman said over and over again, " Latti's man came,
Latti's man came. Our son-in-law, to whom our daughter
is given in the other world. It is true."

The man asked, " Bola, can any one in the other world
come to this world ? Didst thou cook and also give him
to eat ? "

' The woman replied, " What ! Didn't I cook and give
him to eat ! After I had given him to eat he said that
Lattl had told him to take away the things for her arms
and neck. So I gave him those also."

Then the man said, " Where is now, Bola, the horse
that was here ? " and asking " Which way did he go ? "
and mounting on the horse's back, went to seek that millet
trader.

As the trader was going along in the rice field he looked
back, and having seen a man coming on horseback, said,
" That one is coming to seize me."

There was a Timbiri tree very near there into which he
climbed. While he was there, that man making the horse
bound along, having come up, tied the horse to the root of
the Timbiri tree. After he had climbed up the tree to
catch the trader, the trader, descending from the ends of
the Timbiri branches and cutting the fastening, mounted the
horse, after placing on it also the bundles of millet and the
other goods, and went off on the horse.

Then that man descended slowly from the tree, and having
called " Hu " to the millet trader [to arrest his attention],
said, " Tell Latti that your mother-in-law gave you a few
things to put on her arms and neck, but your father-in-law
gave you a horse."

Having returned to the house, he said to the woman,
" It is true. He is really Latti's man. I said ' Don't go
on foot,' and having given him the horse I came back."

The woman said, " Isn't it so indeed ! I told you so."

78 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Then the millet trader having gone to his village, and
divided the goods with the chena cultivator, sowed the millet
in the chena, and remained there.

North-western Province.

The story about Latti's husband occurs in The Orientalist, vol. i,
p. 62, the dead girl's name being Kaluhami. Her father was a
Gamarala, and the man who carried off the things for. her was a
beggar.

This part of the story is also given, with slight variations, in Tales
of the Sun, Southern India (Kingscote and Nate^a Sastri), p. 135 ff.

In Folklore in Southern India (Nate^a SSstri), p. 131 ff., the rogue
did not pretend to be married to the woman's daughter, but repre-
sented to her that her parents were hving in the other world in a
very miserable state, without proper clothing, and without the
means of purchasing food. She handed over to him the clothing,
jewels, and cash in the house, and he went off at once with them.
The ending of the incident is the same as in Ceylon.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xviii, p. 120, there is a story from
Southern India, by Pandita NateSa Sastri, in which a youth obtained
work under an appa ^ (or " hopper ") woman, giving his name as
" Last Year." When he absconded with her cash-box she gave
the alarm in the village by saying, " Last Year (he) stole and took
my box," and was thought to be out of her mind.

In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 182, the incident of the cakes pounded
in the mortar is related. After eating part of the pounded caJces,
the traveller was about to enter the corn-store in which the woman
had concealed her lover. On the woman's stopping him, the hus-
band's suspicions being aroused he examined the corn-store, and
finding the man in it, beat him well, and his own wife also.

1 Light rice cakes.

No. 7

The Turtle Dove

IN a certain city there are two Princes, it is said. A
flower-mother ^ cooks and gives food to the two
Princes. The mother of the Princes is dead ; the father
is alive. The King has married another Queen, and because
the Queen is not good to the Princes they live with the
flower-mother.

One day, while they were living in that manner, the two
Princes having gone to shoot birds with bows and arrows,
walked until night-fall, but were unable to find any birds.
As they were coming back, there was a Horse-radish tree
{Murungd) ^ at the front of the King's palace, in which
was a turtle dove. The younger brother saw it, and said to
the elder brother, " Elder brother, there ! There is a turtle-
dove." The elder brother shot at the turtle-dove, and it
fell dead.

Afterwards, the younger brother having picked it up
and come back, said at the hand of the elder brother
" Elder brother, are we to give this to our father the King,
or are we to give it to the flower-mother ? "

Then the elder brother said, " Why should we give it to
our father the King ? We will give it to the flower-mother
who gives us food and clothing." Taking the tuftle-dove,
the two Princes came to the house of the flower-mother,
and gave it into the flower-mother's hand.

On that day the King was not at the palace ; only the

• Old flower-seller. » Moringa pterygosperma.

8o VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Queen was there. The Queen remained listening to all
that the two Princes said, and stayed looking [to see] if they
gave the turtle-dove into the hand of the flower-mother.

That being so, after the King's return to the palace in
the evening the Queen told at the hand of the King what
the Princes said, and the fact that they gave the turtle-dove
into the hand of the flower-mother.

After that, the King settled to behead both Princes on
the morrow. The flower-mother on hearing of it said at
the hand of the Princes, " Children, the King said that he
must behead you two to-morrow. To save both your
lives go away somewhere."

Having cooked a bundle of rice in the night, she placed
gem-stones at the bottom of the bag and the cooked rice
above them ; and having tied up the bag she gave it into
the hands of the Princes before it became light, and told
them to go.

The two Princes took the bundle of cooked rice and went
away. Having gone on and on, being hungry they sat
down in the shade of a great forest. For rinsing their
mouths after chewing betel, before eating rice, there was
no water.

While they were seated there, a turtle-dove came and fell
down, making a noise, " tas," as it struck the groimd. The
younger brother asked, " Elder brother, what shall we do
with this turtle-dove ? " Then the elder brother said,
" Hide it in a heap of leaves, for us to eat it yet." The
younger brother hid it.

Thereupon a Vaedda came, and asked at the hand of the
two brothers, " Ane ! Didn't a turtle-dove fall here ? "

The two Princes said, " No."

So the Vaedda sought for it, continuing to say, " Ane !
After trying for seven years, I shot the turtle-dove with my
bow and arrow."

Then the Princes said, " Ane ! Vaedi-elder-brother, why
is the turtle-dove such a good one ? "

The Vaedda replied, " Why should'nt it be good ? The
person who has eaten the right portion at that very time
will receive the sovereignty. The person who has eaten

THE TURTLE DOVE 8i

the left portion will receive the sovereignty after seven years
have gone by."

Having said thus, the Vaedda sought and sought it ;
he was luiable to find the turtle-dove, and he went away.
Then, having cooked it, the elder Prince ate the right half ;
the younger Prince ate the left half.

Having eaten it, the elder Prince, taking the small copper
water-pot which the flower-mother gave them, went to
seek for water. The younger brother remained there.

The elder brother, breaking and throwing down branches
all along the path, having gone on and on, came to a large
stream. Hearing a beating of tom-toms while getting
water in the pot, he stayed there, looking [to see] what it
was about. While he was there, the tom-toming having
come near him, a tusk elephant came close to the Prince
and knelt down.

The Prince knew that the royal elephant had selected
him for the sovereignty, and said, " Ane ! A younger brother
of mine is there ; iow can I go without him ? I will
go there and come with him."

Then the men who were there said, " You cannot seek
your younger brother ; you must mount now." After-
wards the Prince having mounted on the elephant, went
to the city of that kingdom, and became the king.

The younger brother, after having looked and looked
for a long time, taking the bundle of cooked rice, came
along the path on which the branches were broken, and
descended to the stream. Then, having seen the elephant's
footprints, continuing to say, " Ane ! It is this very
elephant that has killed elder brother," weeping and weeping
he drank water ; and having eaten part of the cooked rice,
tied up the other part and went away.

While going along the path on which were the elephant's
footprints, he saw that his Prince's robes were torn and
torn, and repeating, " Ane ! Elder brother has been killed.
It is this very elephant. Kill me also, O Gods," weeping
and weeping, going on and on, he went after nightfall to a
Hettiya's houses at some city or other, and said, " Ane 1
You must give me a resting-place for the night."

82 VILLAGE FOLK'TALES OF CEYLON

The Hettiya was not at home ; only his wife was there.
The woman said to the Prince, " No resting-place will be
given here. We do not allow any one to come to our house.
The Hettirala goes to the King, to fan his face. On that
account the Hettirala does not permit any one to come to
this house. To-day the Hettirala went to the King, to
fan his face. He will come at this time. Before he comes
go away quickly."

The Prince said " Ane ! Don't say so. There is not a
quarter to which I can go now. In some way or other
you must give me it."

Then the woman, taking a bit of mat, gave it into the
Prince's hand, saj^ing, " If so, go to that calf house. When
the Hettiya comes don't even cough or anything. You
must be silent."

Afterwards, when the Prince was sitting in the calf house,
the Hettiya returned, and while he was eating rice a
cough came to the Prince. The Prince tried and tried to
be silent. He could not. He coughed.

The Hettiya having heard it said to his wife, " What is
that, Bola',' I hear there ? "

The woman said, " Aije ! A youth, not vicious nor low,
came and asked for a resting-place. I told him to go to
the calf house. Do nothing to him. I told him to get up
before daylight and go away."

Then the Hettiya, sajdng, " I told thee, ' Do not give a
resting-place to any one ' ; is it not so ? Why didst thou
give it ? " beat the woman. Having finished eating rice
he came into the raised veranda.

When he was there, that Prince took the remains of his
rice, and while eating it and thinking in his mind, " Ane !
Was I not indeed a royal Prince before ; why must I stop
now in a calf house ? " he saw the gem-stones at the bottom
of the rice, and placing one on his knee ate the rice by its
light.

The Hettiya having seen the light, asked at the hand
of the woman, " Ade ! Did you go and give a light also to
that one ? " The woman said, " It is not a light that I
took and gave him."

THE TURTLE DOVE 83

Then the Hettiya got up and went to look, and having
seen the gem-stone, scolded the woman. " Ade ! When
my friend from a foreign town came dost thou give him
a resting-place in this way ? What hast thou given it
at the calf house for ? Was there no better place to
give ? "

Having said this, and again beaten the woman, " Quickly
warm water," he said. After waiting while she was warming
it, he took the water into the house, and having placed
it there, said to the Prince, " Let us go, younger brother,
to bathe," and gave him a bath. After finishing bathing
him, having cooked food abundantly and laid the table,
he gave him to eat.

When that was finished, he prepared a bed for sleeping,
and said, " Younger brother, come and sleep." The Prince
came. Afterwards the Hettiya said to the Prince, " Younger
brother, if there are any things of value in your hands give
them into my hands. I will return them to you at the
time when you ask for them. If they be kept in your
hands they may be lost. There are thieves hereabouts ;
we cannot get rid of them. They will not let us keep
anything ; they carry it off."

Then the Prince said " Ane ! There is nothing in my
hands."

The Hettiya said, " Nay, there was a gem-stone in your
hand ; I saw it. It will be there yet ; give me it. I shall
not take it in that way. I will give you it at the time when
you ask for it."

The Prince said, " Ane ! Hetti-elder-brother, I know your
Hetti slumber. It is necessary for me to arise early, while
it is still night, and go away."

Then the Hettiya said, " I shall give you it when you
ask for it, no matter if I should be asleep. You can awake
me ; then I will give it-" Having said thus and thus,
the Prince gave all the gem-stones into the hands of the
Hettiya. The Hettiya taking them and placing them in a
house in the middle of seven houses, went to sleep.

Afterwards, the Prince having been asleep, arose while it
was still night, and awoke the Hettiya, saying, " Ane !

84 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Hetti-elder-brother, it is necessary for me to go expeditiously.
Quickly give me those few gem-stones."

Thus, in this mannei: he asks and asks. It is no affair
of the Hettiya's. Then the woman said, " What is this !
One cannot exist for this troubhng. Must not persons
who took a thing give it back ? Must not this youth who
is not vicious nor low go away ? Why are you keeping
them back ? "

After that, the Hettiya, having got up, opening the seven
doors of the seven houses came out into the light, and saying,
" When, Bola, did I get gem-stones from thee ? " he cut
off the hair-knot of the Prince, and took him for his slave.
So the Prince remained there, continuing to do slave work
for the Hettiya.

Afterwards, one day the Hettiya and the Prince having
gone on a journey somewhere, as they were coming to a
stream the seven Princesses of the King of that country
having been bathing in the stream, saw the Hettiya and
the Prince going on the road.

The youngest Princess said to the other Princesses,
" Elder sisters, that one going there is indeed a Prince."

The six Princesses said, " So indeed ! The Hettiya's
slave has become a Prince to thee ! "

Then the Princess said another time, " However much
you should say it is not so, that is indeed a Prince going
along there."

The six Princesses said, " It is not merely that to thee
the Hettiya's slave has become a Prince ; he will come to
call thee [to be his wife]."

Then the Princess replied still another time, " It is really
so ; he is inviting me indeed- However much you should
say that, it was really a Prince who went there."

The six Princesses said, "If he is inviting thee go thou
also. The Hettiya's slave is going there ; go thou before
he departs."

The Princess replied, " I shall really go. You look.
What though I have not gone now ! Shall I not go here-
after ? "

After the seven Princesses had come to the palace, the

THE TURTLE DOVE 85

youngest Princess said at the hand of her father the King,
" When we were bathing now, a slave youth went along
with the Hettiya. That slave youth is really a Prince."

Then the King sent an order to the Hettiya that the
Hettiya's slave and the Hettiya should come to him. After-
wards the Hettiya and the Hettiya's slave went to the
King.

The King asked, " Whence this slave youth ? "

Then before the Hettiya said anything the Prince replied,
" I was formerly a royal Prince ; now I am doing slave
work for this Hetti-elder-brother."

The King asked at the hand of the Hettiya, " Is he doing
slave work for you ? "

The Hettiya said, " Yes."

After that, the King decided that he would give his
youngest daughter to the slave youth (as his wife), so he
sent away the Hettiya, and the Princess with the slave
youth.

As those three were going to the Hettiya's house, the
Hettiya, becoming hungry while on the way, gave money
into the hand of the Prince, and said, " With this money
get three gills of rice, and with these ten sallis (half farthings)
get a sun-dried fish, and come back and cook them." He
gave money for it separately into the Prince's hand.

The Prince having bought three gills of rice with the
money given for it, and placed it on the hearth to boil,
took the ten sallis and went to the shops for the dried fish.
When he looked at the dried fish there was none to get
for ten sallis.

As he was coming back bringing the ten sallis, a man
was on the road, having laid down a heap of dried fish.
When the Prince came there the man asked him, " Where,
younger brother, are you going ? "

The Prince said, " I came for a dried fish ; I have ten
sallis. There being no dried fish to get for ten sallis I
am going away."

Then the man said, " Give me the ten sallis. Take any
dried fish you want."

So the Prince having given the ten sallis to the trader,

86 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

selected a large dried fish, and putting it on his shoulder^
as he was coming near the river the dried fish was laughing.
After laughing, it asked, " Are you taking me in this manner
to cook ? "

The Prince replied, " Yes, to cook indeed."

The dried fish said, " Do not take me. You are going to
die now. From that I will deliver you. Put me into
the river."

The Prince having placed the dried fish in the river, and
come back " simply " (that is, without it), made sauce
and cooked the rice. When he had finished, the Hettiya
said, " Separate and give me the cooked rice boiled from
two gills." So the Prince separated the rice from two
gills and gave it. Then the Hettiya asked, " Where is the
dried fish?"

The Prince said, " I could not get a dried fish for ten
saUis ; I walked through the whole of the bazaar. I came
back empty-handed ('simply')."

Afterwards, the Hettiya having eaten half the rice in
silence, heaped up the other half in the direction of the
Princess (thus inviting her to eat it). The Princess sajdng,
" Go thou ! Have I come to eat rice out of the Hettiya's
bowl ? " ^ went to the place where the Prince was eating,
and ate rice from the Prince's plate.

Then the Hettiya said, "If it is wrong for thee to eat
from my bowl, how is it thou art eating from my slave's
bowl ? "

The Princess said, " Hettiya, shouldst thou any day say
■ slave ' again, I will tell it at the hand of my father the
King, and get thee quartered and hung at the city gates."
After that the Hettiya was silent.

The whole three having finished eating rice, went on
board the vessel that was to carry them along the river.
While going along in the vessel, the Hettiya said to the
Prince, " Cut me a mouthful of betel and areka-nut, and
give me it."

The Princess said, " Now then, having already cut betel
and areka-nut, his food is done."

> A thing only done by a man's wife.

THE TURTLE DOVE ^'^

The Prince sa3nng, " It is not wrong ; I will cut and give
it," cut and gave it to the Hettjya.

Afterwards the HettiyS again said to the Prince, " Get a
little water and give me it."

The Princess saying, " Now then, your doing slave work is
stopped," told the Prince not to give it.

The Prince said, " When there is thirst, how can one not
give water ? I will give him a little."

While he was bending down over the side of the vessel
to get the water, the Hettiya raised him, and threw him
into the river.

As the Prince fell into the river, the dried fish that he had
fareviously put in the river took him on its back, and having
brought him to the shore, left him there. The Hettiya
and the Princess went on in the ship to the Hettiya's house.

The Prince was in the sun, on a sandbank. Then, as a
flower-mother was coming to the river for water, she saw
the Prince, and said, " What is this, son, that you are in the
sun ? Come away and go with me." Inviting him, and
going to her house with him, she warmed some water and
made him bathe, and gave him food-

While he was there, the Prince told all at the hand of the
flower-mother. After telling it, when he said, " I must go
again to the Hettiya's house," the flower mother said, " O
son, let him do what he likes. Don't you go. Stop here."

The Prince replying, " I cannot stay without going, O
flower-mother ; I will go there and come back to you,"
went there. After he had gone to the Hettiya's house he
found that men had collected together there, and were
saying that the Hettiya and the Princess were to be married
on such and such a day. He stayed hstening to them, and
went again to the flower-mother's house.

After he returned, asking for four sallis at the hand of the
flower-mother he went to the potters' village, and. giving
them the four sallis told them, " When I come to-morrow
you must have ready a kettle having three zig-zag lines
roujid it and twelve spouts. ' ' So saying, he came back to the
flower-mother's house.

On the morning of the following day he walked to the

88 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

potters' village, and taking the kettle, came to the Hettiya's
house. As he arrived, men were dancing, and the King was
looking on. At the time when they were finishing dancing
he got on the raised veranda, and looked on. The dancing
being ended he came out to the wedding hall. Then the
Princess saw him and laughed. At that moment the
Hettiya trembled.

The Prince having gone there said, " Stop that. It is
necessary for me to dance a little." Then he began to tell
them all from the very beginning : " We were of such and
such a city, the sons of the King of such and such a name.
We were two Princes, an elder brother and a younger brother.
Our mother was dead. A flower-mother gave us food and
clothing."

Having thus said a little of the story that he was relating,
he danced, and while dancing sang to the kettle that he held
in his hand —

Possessing three bent lines, a dozen spouts as well.
Little kettle, hear this our trouble that befel.»

Then he said, " While living thus we said one day, ' Let
us go and shoot birds,' and elder brother and I went. Hav-
ing walked till hight-f all we did not meet with a single one.
While we were returning home, as it was becoming night, there
was a Horse-radish tree in front of the palace of our father
the King. In that Horse-radish tree was a turtle-dove
which elder brother shot ; at the stroke it fell dead.

" Afterwards I asked at elder brother's hand regarding it,
' Elder brother, to whom are we to give this ? ' Then
elder brother said, ' There is no need to give it to our father
the King ; let us give it to the flower-mother who gives
us food and clothing.' So saying, we took it home and
gave it to the flower-mother."

Again he danced, and sang while dancing —

Possessing three bent Hnes, a dozen spouts as well.
Little kettle, hear this our trouble that befel.

1 Wangi tunak aeti, kembi dolahak aeti,
Apata waeduna duka mi asdpan kota kotali.

THE TURTLE DOVE 89

" Our Punci-Amma (step-mother, lit. ' little mother ')
after hearing this, on the return of our father the King told
him of it, and our father the King appointed to behead us.
Afterwards our flower-mother to save the lives of us both
told us to go away. Having cooked a bundle of rice, and
tied up a bag of it, placing gem-stones at the bottom and
the cooked rice above, she gave it into the hand of both of
us, and told us to go away somewhere before it became light.
So we both came away. Walking on and on, we came to a
great forest, and both of us sat down in the shade."

Then he danced again, and sang while dancing —

Possessing three bent lines, a dozen spouts as well.
Little kettle, hear this our trouble that befel.

After^ that, he told a further part of his tale, and then
danced again. Thus, in that way he related all the things
that had occurred.

The King who had come to celebrate the wedding was the
Prince's elder brother. While the Prince was relating all
these things the King wept.

Then the King asked at the hand of the Hettiya, " Is what
he has said regarding the gem-stones, and the taking him
as a slave, true ? " The Hettiya replied, " It is true."

Then the King caused the^^Hettiya to be quartered, and
hung at the four gateways of the city.

After the King had caused the Prince and Princess to be
married, and had given that kingdom to the Prince, both the
King and the Prince went to their cities.

The elder brother who had eaten the right portion of the
turtle-dove shot by the Vaedda, at that very time obtained
the sovereignty. The younger brother having eaten the
left portion, when seven years had passed, on that day
obtained the sovereignty.

So the Prince and Princess remained at their city.

North-western Province.

The notion that the persons who ate two birds, or the halves of
one bird or of a fruit, would become Kings, or a King and his minister,
is found throughout India in folk-tales.

In the Jataka stories No. 284 (vol. ii, p. 280), and No. 443 (vol.

90 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

iv, p. 24), two cocks were overheard to say that whoever ate one
would get a thousand pieces of money, and the person who ate the
other would become King, Chief Queen or Commander-in-Chief,
and Treasurer or King's favourite cleric. The second one was
selected and eaten, with the corresponding result.

In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 150, there is a story by Miss S. J.
Goonetilleke, in which a bUnd man, sitting under a tree, heard a
Rakshasa who was in the tree saying to others that if the fruit of
the tree were rubbed on the eyes of a blind man he would recover
his sight, and that a person who ate the fruit on the top of the tree
would become a King within seven days. The man regained his
sight in this way, and having also eaten the fruit was selected as
King by the royal elephant, which knelt before him. The man
who had blinded him married his Prime Minister's daughter ; and
ascertaining how the King recovered his sight and obtained his
position, he got his wife to treat him in the same way and leave him
under a tree, where he died.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xvii, p. 75, there is a tale of two
Princes who were ordered to be blinded because of a false charge
made by the Queen, their step-mother. They escaped, and killed
a Chakwa (Sheldrake) which they heard informing its mate that he
who ate its head would become a King, and he who ate the liver
would be very happy after twelve years' wanderings. The elder
brother went for food to a city, where the royal elephant threw a
garlandpver his neck, and he became King. The younger brother
being unable to find him worked for a potter, then travelled on and
took the place of a woman's son who was going to be offered to an
Ogre, who had forced a King to give him daily a cart-load of sweet
cakes, a couple of goats, and a young man. The Prince killed the
Ogre while he was eating the cakes. The King gave him his daughter
in marriage, and half the kingdom. The elder brother came to the
wedding, and they recognised each other. When they visited their
father he sent the Queen into exile.

In the Tamil work. The Story of Madana Kama Raja (Nateia
Sastri), p. 125 ff., a Mango tree growing in a thick forest bore a
magical fruit once in one hundred years. A sage waited for it, and
went to bathe in order to purify himself before eating it. As two
Princes whose parents had been reduced to poverty, were passing,
the younger one picked up the fruit and placed it in their packet
of rice. The sage followed them, but they denied all knowledge
of the fruit. He informed them that the person who ate the outer
part would become a king, and that from the mouth of the person
who ate the seed, gems would drop whenever he laughed. The
brothers divided the fruit in this way, and a royal elephant coming
in search of a new King placed a garland on the neck of the elder
one, and depositing him on its back went off with him. The younger
one, thinking he was carried off by a wild elephant, left the wood.

THE TURTLE DOVE 91

and was received at the house of a dancing girl. One day when
he laughed gems fell from his mouth, and after getting many more,
they gave him a purgative pill and secured the magic stone. After
other adventures he was united to his brother, recovered the mango
stone, and became a King himself.

In Wide- Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 138 f£., Tales of
the Punjab (F. A. Steel), p. 129, two Princes ran away on account
of their step-mother's cruelty, and while resting under a tree heard
a Maina (Starling) and a Parrot telling each other that the two per-
sons who ate them would become a King and a Prime Minister.
They shot the birds with crossbows, and ate them. The younger
one went back for the other's whip, which was left at a spring, and
was bitten and killed by a snake. The elder was selected as King,
by a royal elephant. A magician found the dead Prince, drained
the spring into his wife's small brass pot, and the snakes being
waterless gave back the Prince's life. After stirring adventures,
the younger Prince married a Prime Minister's daughter, who went
on a ship with him. There he was thrown overboard, but caught
a rope and got back to his wife's cabin unobserved. He met his
brother the King at last, and was made to relate his life story.
This he did in sections, on seven days, and at the end the King
claimed him as his brothej:, and he became Prime Minister.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 276 ff., a step-
mother got two Princes exiled. At night while they were under a
tree two birds were heard predicting that those who ate them would
become a King and a Minister, so they shot and ate them. The
whip and snake incident are as above, the guilty snake being brought
up by a cowry shell, of which the magician had despatched four to
the four quarters. The snake breathed into the Prince's mouth
and revived him. He had wonderful adventures, and married a
Princess, went on a ship with her, was thrown overboard, and as-
sisted a gardener. The Princess had been sold at the palace, where
the King, who was the elder brother, wished to marry her. The
younger brother went disguised as a woman, and related his story
by sections in three days, when the Princess claimed him as her
husband. His brother made him Chief Counsellor, and at last he
succeeded to his father's kingdom.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 78, the persons
who ate the head and breast of a bird became Kings.

At p. 159, the King's elephant selected a person as King, the
elephant bowing down to him, and the royal hawk perching on his
hand.

At p. 167 ff., two Princes who escaped their death sentence, which
was due to their step-mother's plotting, heard two birds say of two
others that they who ate them would become a King and Minister.
They shot and ate them. The whip and snake incident occurred,
the latter being a dragon. The elder brother was selected as King

92 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

by the royal elephant and hawk. A jogi emptied the spring and
made the dragon restore the Prince, who was captured by robbers,
saved by the daughter of one, went with her on board a ship, was
pushed overboard, and was saved by the girl. They landed at the
city where the elder brother was reigning, and he was made
Minister, and eventually King when the elder brother succeeded
their father.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. gg, a royal elephant with a
rich howdah on its back selected a Prince as King, and took him
to the city.

No. 8

The Prince and the Princess

IN a certain city there are a Prince and a Princess, it is
said. Because these two go together to the school
the teacher said, " You two came together to-day ; on
another day you must not do it again."

When they were coming separately on that account, the
Princess, being in front, one day went to the well, and
having bent down while trying to drink water, her writing
style fell into the well. Being there alone the Princess was
unable to get the writing style.

After the Prince came up she said, " Ane ! My writing
style fell into the well ; get it and give me it."

Then the Prince said, " I will get it and give you it if you
will swear that you will not marry another person."

The Princess said, " I will not marry another ; I will only
marry you yourself." Having touched the Prince's body
she swore it, and the Prince having touched the body of the
Princess also swore it. Then he got and gave her the writing
pin, and one of them went in front and one went behind.

Those two learnt their letters excellently. Afterwards,
both having grown up, when they inquired about arranging
the marriage for the Prince he said, " You must bring me
in marriage such and such a Princess, of such and such a
village. If not, I do not want a different marriage."

Then the King said, " Do you want the kingdom, or do
you want the Princess ? "

The Prince replied, " I do not want your kingdom at all ;
I want the Princess."

Afterwards the King went and asked for the Princess.
Then the father of the Princess said, " I will give the Princess
to the persons who give me this well full of gold."

94 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON i

So the Prince filled it and gave it, and the Prince and
Princess having got married stopped many days at the
Prince's house.

Then the King said to the Prince, " Because at first you
said that you did not want the kingdom, that you only-
wanted the Princess, you shall not live at my house. Go
where you want."

Then having gone to the Princess's house, after they had
been living there many days the father of the Princess said,
" Taking a well of gold, I sold the Princess. You shall not
hve at my house. Go where you want."

So those two went away. As they were going the Princess
went along sewing a jacket. Having gone very far, after
they sat down at a travellers' shed near a city, the Princess
gave the jacket that she had sewn into the Prince's hand,
and said, " Take this, and having sold it at the bazaar bring
something to eat."

The Prince having taken it to the bazaar, after he had told
the bazaar men to buy it they said, " We are unable to say'
a word about buying this. It is so valuable that we have
not got the means to purchase it."

The guards of the King of that country having been
present looking on, and having seen this, told the royal
servants to bring the jacket to the King. After they had
brought it the King took it, and gave the Prince two bags
of money. The Prince left one and took one away.

The King having called his servants, ordered them, " Look
at the place where that Prince goes and stays, and come
back." Well then, the servants having gone and having
seen that the Princess was stopping at the travellers' shed,
came running, and said at the hands of the King, " There
is a good-looking Princess at such and such a travellers'
shed."

The Prince having left at the travellers' shed the bag of
money which he took, came for the other bag of money.
While he was coming, the King, taking a horse also, went to
the travellers' shed by a different road, and placing the
Princess on horseback brought her to the palace.
Well then, when the Prince, taking the other bag of money

THE PRINCE AND THE PRINCESS 95

went to the travellers' shed the Princess was not there. He
called and called ; she did not come. Afterwards, taking
both bags of money he comes away along the road.

The Princess, while she was looked after by the guards,
having seen from afar that the Prince was coming, said to
the servants, " I am thirsty," and told them to bring an
orange quickly. After it was brought and given to her, she
opened the skin and wrote a letter thus : " Give even both
those bags of money, and buying two horses come near the
palace, and having tied up the two horses stay there without
sleeping. After the King has gone to sleep I shall descend
down robes tied together, and having come to you, when I
mount a horse you mount the other horse, and we will go
oft."

Having placed the letter inside the skin of the orange and
shut it up completely, so as to appear like a whole orange
fruit, she threw it behind the guards, in front of the approach-
ing Prince. The Prince thinking, because he was hungry,
" I must eat this," picked it up, and having gone into the
shade of a Timbiri tree, sat down. When he opened the
skin of the orange, having seen that there was a letter inside
it he took it to the light, and read it aloud.

A Karumantaya (a Kinnara, a man of the lowest caste)
who was in the Timbiri tree heard all that was written in
the letter. Well then, the Prince having given the two bags
of money and taken two horses, and having come near the
palace on the appointed day, tied the two horses there.
While ^he was there the Karumantaya also came, saying,
" Ane ! I also must stop here at this resting place."

The Prince said, " Do not stay here. Should the King
hear of it he will drive us both away."

The Karumantaya replied, " Don't say so. I also am
going to stop here to-day," and stayed there. The Prince
went to sleep ; the Karumantaya remained awake.

After the King had gone to sleep, the Princess, descending
down some robes, came there. When she was mounting a
horse, the Karumantaya mounted the other horse, and
both of them went off together.

Having gone off, when the Princess looked after it became

96 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

light, she saw the Karum5.ntay5. Afterwards she stopped
the horse, and said to the Karumantaya, " Get and give me
a little water." The Karumantaya said, " I will not ; get
it to drink yourself."

After the Princess had said it yet another time, the
Karumantaya dismounted from the back of the horse.
When he had gone for water, the Princess cut with her
sword the throat of the horse on which the Karumantaya
came, and went off, making the horse boimd along. The
Karumantaya having run and run a great distance, returned
again because he could not come up to her.

While the Princess was going on horseback, she came to a
place where seven Vaeddas were shooting with bows and
arrows. Those seven persons having seen the Princess
coming, said to each other, " That Princess who is Coming
is for me." The Princess having heard that saying,
stopped the horse and asked, " What are you sajdng ? "

Then each of the seven said, " The Princess is for me,
for me."

Afterwards the Princess said, " You seven persons
shoot your arrows together. I will marry the one whose
arrow is picked up in front of the others."

After that, they all seven having at one discharge shot
their arrows, while the seven persons were running to pick
up the arrows the Princess went off, making the horse
bound along. Those seven persons having run and run for
a great distance, returned again because they could not
come up to her.

The Prince having awoke, when he looked the two horses
were not there, and the Princess was not there. So he
walked away weeping and weeping.

Then, while the Princess was going near yet another city,
putting on Brahmana clothes she went to the school at that
city, and there having begged from a child a slate ^ and
slate pencil,^ she wrote a name in Brahmana letters (Deva-
nSgari).

When she had given it to the children who were at the

* Evidently a modern interpolation, as the Princess was repre-
sented as using only a writing style.

THE PRINCE AND THE PRINCESS 97

school, nobody, including also the teacher, was able to read
it, Then the teacher took it to the King of that country,
and showed him it. The King also could not read it.
So the King appointed her as a teacher, sa3dng, " From
to-day the Brahmana must teach letters at the school."

Now, when the Brahmana had been teaching letters for a
long time, men told the King tales about her : " That is
a wpman indeed ; no Brahmana."

Then the King having said, " Ha. It is good," told the
servants, " Inviting that Brahmana, go to my flower garden.
If it be a woman, she will pick many flowers and come
away after putting them in her waist pocket. If it be a
Brahmana, he will pick one flower, and come away turning
it round and round near his eye."

That Brahmana had reared a parrot. The parrot heard
from the roof of the palace the words said by the King,
and having gone to the school said to the Brahmana, " The
King says thus."

Next day, the Ministers having come to the school said,
" Let us go to the flower garden," and inviting the Bra-
mana, went there. Keeping in mind the words said by the
parrot, the Brahmana broke off one flower, and holding it
near the eye came away turning it round and round. The
King looking on said, " From to-day no one must say again
that it is a woman."

Again, in that manner, when she had been there a long
time, people began to say to the King, " No Brahmana ;
that is a woman indeed."

Then the King again said to the servants, " To-morrow,
inviting the Brahmana, go to my betel garden. If it be a
woman, she will pluck many betel leaves, and go away after
putting them in her waist pocket. If it be a Brahmana,
he will pluck one betel leaf, and holding it near his eye he
will come away turning it round and round." Hearing that
also from the roof of the palace, the Brahmana's parrot
having gone to the Brahmana said, " The King says so
and so."

Next day, the King's Ministers having gone to the school
said, " Let us go to the betel garden," and inviting the

98 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Brahmana, went there. Keeping in mind the words said by
the parrot, in that very manner breaking off. one betel leaf,
and holding it near the eye, she came away turning it round
and round. The King, looking on at it also, said, " From
to-day I shall cut with this sword the one who says again
that it is a woman."

After that, the Brahmana having carved a figure like the
Princess, gave it into the hands of the scholars, and said,
" Taking this, go and collect donations [samadama). After
you have gone, inviting to come with you him who on seeing
this figure recognises it, return with him."

After the scholars, taking the figure, had gone to a city,
the seven Vaeddas saw it, and said, " Here is the Prin-
cess." Having drawn near they asked, " How is it that she
has gone away for such a long time since she went from here
that day ? Where is she now ? "

Then the scholars, saying, " She is now at our city ; let
us go there," inviting those seven persons, returned with
them. After they had come to the school the Brahmana
said, " Cut them down, the seven persons."

After they had' cut them down, the Brahmana said to the
scholars, " Take this again. Again inviting him whom
you meet, return with him."

The scholars took it again, and while they were going to
another city met that Karumantaya. After he had said,
" Ane ! Amme ! Where did you go for such a long time ?
Where is she now ? " the scholars replied, " The Princess
is now at our city ; let us go there." After they had come
to the school the Brahmana said, " Cut down that one also."

After they had cut him down, she said to the scholars,
" Take this again." The scholars, taking it, and having
gone to another city, met with the Prince. Having come
in front of it, the Prince fell down weeping. The scholars
said, " Do not weep. She is in our city ; let us go there."

After they had come to the school, the Brahmana arose
quickly, and having thrown off the Brahmana clothing,
dressed herself in her Princess's robes. Having prepared
warm water and made the Prince bathe, the Princess cooked
ample food, and gave him to eat.

THE PRINCE AND THE PRINCESS 99

While she was doing this, the scholars having gone to the
King said, " It was a Princess who was there. After we
went to a city to collect donations, having met with the
Princess's Prince he came back with us. Both of them
are now at the school."

After that, the King, having come to the school, and
having asked about those things from those two, built a house
with a tiled roof, and gave it and half the village to the
Princess as a present.

North-western Province.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 86, a Prince
induced three persons who were quairelling over the ownership of
some wonderful articles left by their master, a Fakir, to run for
three arrows which he discharged in three directions. While they
were absent, he took three of the articles, and seating himself on a
magic seat which was one of the things, was conveyed away by it.

At p. 306 ft. of the same work, a Prince and Princess eloped when
the latter was about to be married to another Prince. While on
their way, she remembered some jewels which she required, and
he returned for them. In the meantime a robber had come up in
the dark, and finding her servant asleep had ridden off with the
Princess, who thought he was the Prince. When daylight came
she found out her mistake, sent him to a village for food, and then
rode off alone ; and calling at a goldsmith's house for a drink, was
detained and requested to marry him. On her agreeing, he gave
her gold ear-rings and her jewels, with which she rode off, and
stayed with a married couple, disguising herself as a man. An
elephant selected her as King. Then she got an artist to paint her
portrait, and she hung it in a thoroughfare of the city, with a guard
who seized all who recognised her. These proved to be the robber,
her servant, the goldsmith, and the two who befriended her, and
lastly the Prince. When the Prince saw her portrait he fainted.
He was first made Prime Minister, and afterwards the Princess
revealed herself to him, and he became King. The robber and
goldsmith were imprisoned, and the others rewarded. The resem-
blance to the Sinhalese story is striking.

No. 9
Tamarind Tikka

IN a certain city there are seven elder brothers and
younger brothers, it is said. The seven have a younger
sister, who cooks and gives food to all seven.

While the seven brothers were cutting and cutting the
sides of an earthen ridge (nlra) in the rice field, they saw
seven women coming, and said to them, " Where are you
going ? "

The seven women replied, " We are seven elder sisters and
younger sisters ; and we are going to seek seven elder brothers
and younger brothers."

Then the seven brothers said, " We are seven elder
brothers and younger brothers. Stop with us."

The seven sisters said " Ha."

The seven brothers having brought the seven sisters to
their house, leaving them there went again to the rice field,
and chopped the ridges. Those seven sisters having boiled
seven pots of paddy and spread it out to dry, said to their
sister-in-law, " We are going for firewood ; you stay at home
and look after these things."

After they had gone, that sister-in-law fell asleep. Then
rain having fallen, the seven large 'mats {mdgal) on which
the paddy was spread were washed away. When the seven
sisters came, and saw that the mats and paddy had been
washed away, they seized that woman, and having beaten
her, drove her away from the house. So she went to the
foot of a Tamarind tree on the roadside, and stayed
there.

When a long time had passed after she went there, all those

100

TAMARIND TIKKA lol

seven women bore girls. The woman under the Tamarind
tree bore a boy.

As the eldest brother was going along the road on which
was the tree, the woman said, " Ane ! Elder brother, look
at my boy's horoscope." He said, " I will not."

As the next brother was going she said, " Ane ! Elder
brother, look at my boy's horoscope." He said, " I will not."

Thus, in that way all the six elder brothers refused.

Afterwards, when the youngest brother Was going, on her
saying, " Ane ! Elder brother, look at my boy's horoscope,"
he said " Ha," and went.

When he looked at it, the astrologer said, "He is born
such that he will bring'misfortune to those seven girls. The
child will be so lucky that he might obtain a kingdom."

Then the brother having returned, said to that woman,
" That one has been bom such that he willeat thee. Knock
his head on a stone or root, and kill him."

The woman saying, " It is good. Let him eat me," reared
him.

The child having become big, said at the hand of the
woman, " Mother, now then, oughtn't you to bring me an
assistant (i.e. a wife) ? " The woman rephed, " Ane ! Son,
who will give in marriage to us ? "

Afterwards the youth went to a place where they were
grinding flour, and having put a little flour under his finger
nail, came back. " Mother, mother, quickly hold a basin,"
he said. The woman held one. Then, when he put into the
basin the little flour that was under his finger nail, it filled
it and ran over.

Having gone again to a place where they were expressing
coconut oil, in the same way he took a little coconut under
his finger nail, and came back. " Mother, mother, hold that
quickly," he said. The woman held it. That also was
filled and overflowed.

Again, having gone to a place where they were warming
Palm-tree syrup, in the same way he took some under his
finger nail, and came back. " Mother, mother, hold that
quickly," he said. That also was filled and overflowed.

Afterwards the youngster said, " Mother, cook cakes with

102 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

those things, and give me them." So the woman having
cooked them, tied up a pingo (carrying-stick) load, and gave
it to him.

The youngster, taking the pingo load, went to his eldest
uncle 1. After he asked him for his daughter's hand in
marriage, the uncle said, " Be off ! Be off ! Who would
give in marriage to Tamarind Tikka ? "

From there he went to the next uncle, and asked him.
That uncle spoke in ihe same manner. All the six elder
uncles spoke in the same manner.

Then he went to the youngest uncle, and when he asked
him the uncle said, " Put the packages of cakes there, then."
(Intimating by this that he accepted him as a son-in-law.
He alone knew of the nature of the boy's horoscope.)

Afterwards, having cooked and given Tamarind Tikka
to eat, the uncle said, " My buffalo cow has died. Tamarind
Tikka. Let us go and bury it, and return."

Tamarind Tikka said " Ha," and having gone to the place
where the dead buffalo was lying, said, " Uncle, shall I
make that get up ? " The uncle said " Ha." So Tamarind
Tikka went to the low bushes at the edge of the jungle, and
came back cutting a white stick. Then calling out, " Into
the cattle-fold, Buffalo cow ! Into the cattle-fold ! " he
struck the buffalo. Then the buffalo cow that had been
dead got up, and came running to the cattle-fold. By the
calves from that buffalo cow the cattle herd was increased.

One day, while the six uncles and Tamarind Tikka were
watching cattle in the field, the uncles said, " Tamarind
Tikka, we will watch. You go and eat, and come back."
After he had gone home, the six uncles cut all the throats ^ of
his cattle. When he returned the six uncles said, " Ane !
Tamarind Tikka. Some men came, and having tied us all
and thrown us down in the dust, cut all the throats of your
cattle. Not a thing could we do." Tamarind Tikka said,
" Ha. It is good."

As he was going away, having seen people burying a corpse
he waited while they were burying it, and after they had
gone he dug out the grave, and raised the dead body to the
'■ Loku m»m». ' Lit. necks.

TAMARIND TIKKA 103

surface. Then lifting up the body and taking it to a tank,
he bathed it, dressed it in a cloth, tied a handkerchief round
its waist, tied a handkerchief on its head, put a handker-
chief over its shoulder,^ and placing it on his shoulder went
away with it.

After nightfall, having gone to a village, Tamarind Jikka
set the body upright against a clump of plantain trees,
and asked at a house, " Ane ! You must give us a resting-
place to-night."

When he said this the men in the house replied, " There
will be no resting-place here. Go away, and ask at another
house."

Then he said, " Ane ! Don't say so. Our great-grand-
father is coming there."

Women were driving cattle out of that garden. Tamarind
Tikka said to them, " Ane ! Our great-grandfather is
coming there. His eyes cannot see anything. Don't hit
him, any one."

Then a woman at the raised terrace of the shop, having
knocked down a stump, when she was throwing it at the
cattle the dead body was hit, and fell down. At the blow
Tamarind Tikka went running there, and cried out,
" Appe ! Great-grandfather is dead."

The men came out of the house and said, " Tamarind
Jikka, don't cry. We will give you a quart measure of
money."

" I don't want either a quart measure of money or two.
Our great-grandfather is dead," Tamarind fikka said, and
cried aloud. '

Again the men said, " Appa ! Tamarind Jikka, don't
cry. We will give you three quart measures of money."

Tamarind Tikka said, " I don't want either three or four.
I want our great-grandfather."

Again the men said, " Tamarind Tikka, don't cry. We
will give you five quart measures of money."

Tamarind Tikka said, " I don't want either five or six.
Give me my great-grandfather."

' This is the dress of a villager when visiting friends. A white
jacket is now often added.

104 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The men said, " Tamarind Jikka, don't cry. We will give
you seven quart measures of money."

Then Tamarind Tikka said, " Ha. It is good. Give me
them. What of that ! WiU our great-grandfather come
to his senses again ? "

Taking the seven quart measures of money, and returning
to his village, Tamarind Tikka spread a mat on the raised
veranda of his house, and having put the seven quart
measures of money on it, was counting it. The six uncles
having come, said, " Whence, Tamarind Tikka, this
money ? "

" ! Will people with cattle hides to sell become in
want of money ? " he said.

After that, the six uncles having cut the throats of all the
cattle they had, and tied the skins into pingo loads, taking
them to the villages asked, " Will you buy cattle hides ? "

The men said, " Go away. Go away. Who will give
money for cattle hides ? "

Then the uncles having come to their village, becoming
angry with Tamarind Tikka, spoke together, " We must kill
him." So they went to him and said, " Tamarind Tikka,
let us go on a journey together." He asked " Where ? "
The six uncles said, " A daughter of ours has been asked in
marriage. On that account we must go to-day to eat betel
at the house of the people who have asked for her. Tama-
rind Tikka said " Ha," and went with the uncles.

Having gone very far, they came to a foot-bridge made of
a tree trunk {edanda), and on seeing it the uncles spoke
together, " Let us hang Tamarind Tikka under this, and go
away." So they put him in a sack, and having Txung it
under the foot-bridge, went off.

While he was under it, as a washerman bringing a bundle
of clothes was going over the bridge. Tamarind Tikka
said, " Appe ! The lumbago is a leetle better siiice I have
been hanging here." Then the washerman said, " Tamarind
Tikka, I also have lumbago ; hang me up a little."

Tamarind Tikka said, " If so, unfasten this sack." After
the washerman unfastened it. Tamarind Tikka came out,
and having put him in the sack, and again tied it in the

TAMARIND TIKKA 105

same manner under the foot-bridge, took his bundle of
clothes, came to the rice fields with it, and spread the clothes
out to dry.

As the six uncles were returning, they cut the fastenings
of the sack that hung under the bridge (thus letting it fall
into the stream).

While coming along afterwards to the village, they saw
Tamarind Tikka in the rice field spreading clothes out, and
asked. " Whence, Tamarind Jikka, these clothes ? "

Then he said, " ! Will people who have to be under
foot-bridges become in want of clothes ? "

The six uncles said, " Hang us there also,Tamarind Tikka,"
and they brought six sacks and gave them to him. So he
put the six uncles into the six sacks, and hung them under
the foot-bridge, and afterwards cut the fastenings of the
sacks. Then the six uncles were carried away down the
river, and died in the sea.

The six women (their wives) ran away; their six girls,
saying, " Our fathers are going for clothes to wear. Let us
go also," also ran away.

So the six uncles, and the six women, and the six girls all
died. Tamarind Tikka, and his wife, and uncle, and aunt,
and mother, these five remained.

North-western Province.

In the Jataka story No. 432 (vol. iii, p. 304), a similar incident
to the last one is related. A woman whom her son and his wife
thought they had burnt while asleep, frightened a robber when he
came to the cave in which she had taken refuge, and thus got his
bundle containing jewels. When she returned home next day with
the jewels, and was asked by her daughter-in-law where she got
them, she informed her that all who were burnt on a wooden pile
at that cemetery received a similar present. So she went there,
and burnt herself.

In The Story of Madana Kama Raja (NatS^a SSstri), p. 97 fE., a
Prince was requested to deUver letters to the departed relatives of
all at the palace of the King under whom he was employed, who
twice before had endeavoured to kill him by giving him appar-
ently impossible tasks. By the aid of the magical powers of his
wives, he jumped into a pit of fire with the letters, and was saved
by Agni, tiie Fire God, who sent him back next day out of the fire,
with costly jewels and a splendid dress. All the persons who were

io6 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

hoping to kill him decided to follow his example, and were burnt
up. The Prince then became the ruler of the kingdom.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. iii, p. ii, in a Bengal tale by G. H.
Damant, six men burnt a farmer's house. He loaded two bags of
the ashes on a bullock, and on the way met some men driving bul-
locks laden with rupees, changed two of their bags for his own, met
the six men who burnt his house, and told them he got the money by
selling the ashes. They burnt their houses and were beaten by
people for trying to sell ashes. Then they went to the farmer's
house, tied him, put him in a sack, and tiirew him into a river.
He was saved by a man who was riding past, on his offering to cut
grass for his horse without pay. He rode ofi on the horse, overtook
the six men, and informed them that he found the horse in the
river, where there were many more. They persuaded him to throw
them in, tied in sacks, and all were drowned.

In the same journal, vol. iv, p. 257, the incident is given as found
among the Santals. A man who was in a sack, about to be drowned,
induced another, a shepherd, to take his place. The man then
took possession of the shepherd's cows, and when those who thought
they had killed him heard from him that there were many more in
the, river, they allowed themselves to be tied up and thrown in.

In vol. xviii, p. 120, in a South Indian story by Pandita Nateia
Sastri, a man who had cheated some persons was carried off, tied
up in a bag, to be burnt alive. While firewood was being fetched,
he induced a cow-watcher to take his place, and he himself drove
off the 1,001 cows of which the man had charge. When his enemies
returned to his house after burning the watcher, they found him
there to welcome them, the cows being all around. He informed
them that on going to Kailasa, the residence of the God Siva, after
being burnt, he met his father and grandfather, who stated that
his allotted time on earth had not expired, and sent him back with
the cows. The others decided to go also, and were tied up and
burnt.

A variant of the last incident is also found in West Africa, and
is given in Conies Soudanais (C. Monteil), p. 121. A sorceress cap-
tured a youth, whom she wished to destroy enclosed in three goat
skins, and she set her daughter to watch the package while she dug
a pit and filled it with wood, which she set on fire. The girl heard
the boy apparently eating food inside, and questioned him about
it. He said, " I have better than that ; I have some dainties."
As she wanted some she released him and was tied up in his place,
while he escaped clothed in her dress. The sorceress returned, and
threw the bundle into the fire. Although she heard a voice inside
saying the boy had tied up the girl in it, she believed it was only a
trick of his.

A similar incident is related in another story in the same volume,
p. 164.

TAMARIND TIKKA 107

It also occurs in a folk-tale of the Southern Province Which I
contributed to The Orientalist (vol. ii, p. 53). As other incidents
in that story resemble some in the tales given below, I give it in
full here.

I may add that however improbable the marriage of seven brothers
to seven sisters may appear, it has been nearly matched in recent
years in England. The Daily Mail of January 30, 1908, contained
the following words regarding an old lady who had just died : —
" She was one of seven members of her family who married seven
sons and daughters of a neighbouring farmer."

' No. lo

Matalange Loku-Appu

ONCE upon a time there lived a man and a woman,
whose son was a youth named Matalange Loku-
Appu.

One day the mother went to the river to fetch water, tell-
ing her son to allow nothing whatever to enter the house in
her absence. While she was away a small lizard {hikanald)
ran into the house. As it approached, the boy called out to
it to stop, but it took no notice of him, and climbed up into
the roof, whereupon Loku-Appu set fire to the roof and
burnt the house down. When his mother returned, and
asked him how the house came to be burnt, he informed her
that he had done it in driving the lizard out of the roof.

Afterwards the father came home, and on learning what
had occurred set off into the forest with his son to cut sticks,
in order to build a new house. While he cut the sticks he
ordered Loku-Appu to collect them.

A river flowed through the forest, and Loku-Appu asked
him where it ran. " To your house," he replied. The son,
taking this literally, threw all the sticks into the river, so
that it might transport them home. When the father
discovered that all the sticks were lost in this way, he flew
into a passion, tied the boy on a log, and set him afloat in the
river, saying " Go thou also."

At a short distance down the river there was a sweet-potato
garden. The gardener saw the log and boy floating past,
and rescued Loku-Appu. He inquired the boy's name, and
was told it was " Uprooter-of-Creepers, Sweet-Potato-Eater."
Nevertheless, he placed the boy in charge of his garden,

108

MATALANGE LOKU-APPU 109

After two or three days, the gardener returned to inspect
his garden, and found all the sweet potatoes pulled up and
eaten. So he tied the boy on the log again, and set him
afloat once more.

Further down the river there was a plantain garden, the
owner of which saw Loku-Appu on the log, and drew him
ashore. When asked his name, Loku-Appu rephed, " Eater-
of-the-first-Comb-of-Plantains, Crusher-of-young-Plantain-
Shoots." The man gave him charge of the garden.

In a few days, the man came to see how his garden pro-
gressed, and found everything broken down and eaten.
On this, he at once dismisssed Loku-Appu.

Having nothing to live upon, Loku-Appu now began to
borrow from some tom-tom beaters. After a few months,
these men, finding that he did not repay them, called on him
to make him come to a settlement. Loku-Appu saw them at
a distance, and guessing their errand, put a young girl into
the corn store-room, and began to trim a club with his knife.

When the creditors arrived he requested them to be seated.
Soon afterwards he fetched up an old woman who lived in the
house, gave her a smart blow with the club, and put her also
into the corn-store.

After a few minutes, he called for betel to be brought, and
the little girl came out with it. At this, the tom-tom beaters
were greatly astonished, and made inquiries regarding the
miracle, for such they thought it. Loku-Appu told them
that the virtue lay in the club, with which all old women
could be converted into young girls.

When they heard this, they became exceedingly anxious
to possess the wonderful club, but Loku-Appu refused to
part with it on any terms. At last, finding persuasion
useless, the tom-tom beaters took it from him by force, and
went straight home with it.

There they called up part of the old women of their village,
and after beating them well with the club, put them into
the corn store-rooms. To give the charm tim^ to work
they waited three days. Then they went to examine the old
women, expecting to find them become young again ; but
all were dead.

no VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Full of anger, they went to Loku-Appu to tell him that
he had deceived them, and that the women were all dead.
While they were still at a distance, Loku-Appu cried out,
" Alas, alas ! They have taken hold of the wrong end of the
stick 1 " When they came near he explained to them the
blunder they had made. As they took the stick from him
by force he was not responsible for it.

This time he cut a mark on the right end of the stick to be
used, telling the tom-tom beaters that if the wrong end were
used the women would certainly die, while the proper end
would as certainly change them into young girls.

When the tom-tom beaters returned to their village they
fetched up all the rest of the old women, and after bela-
bouring them well with the proper end of the club, put them
also into the corn-stores. Yet after three days they found
that the result was just the same as at first ; all the women
were dead.

Determined to revenge themselves on Loku-Appu, they
came to his house, tied him up in a sack, and set off to the
river with him, intending to drown him. On the way, they
heard the beating of tom-toms, whereupon they set the sack
down on the road, and went to see what it was about.

During their absence, a Muhammadan trader in cloth who
was coming along the road, found the sack, and heard a voice
proceeding from it : " Alas ! What a trouble this is
that has come upon me ! How can I govern a kingdom
when I cannot either read or write ? "

The trader immediately untied the sack, and questioned
Loku-Appu as to how he came there. Loku-Appu explained
to the trader that he was about to be made a king, but not
possessing the requisite amoimt of knowledge for such a
high position he had refused the dignity ; and now he was
being carried off in this way to be put on the throne. " By
force they are going to make me king," he said.

The trader remarked 'to him, " It will be a great favour if
you will let them do it to me instead " ; and eventually they
changed places, Loku-Appu tying the trader in the sack,
and he himself taking the man's clothes and bundle of cloth.
Xoku-Appu then hid himself.

MATALANGE LOKU-APPU III

In a short time the tom-tom beaters came back, carried
away the sack with the would-be king, and threw it into the
river.

As they were returning past a part of the river, they saw,
to their intense surprise, Loku-Appu washing clothes in it.
They came to him and said, " What is this, Loku-Appu ?
Where have you come from ? Where did you get all this
cloth ? " He replied, " These are the things which I found
in the river bottom when you threw me in with the sack.
As they are rather muddy I am cleaning them."

The tom-tom beaters said that they would be greatly
obliged if he would put them in the way of getting such
treasures, so he requested them to bring sacks Uke that in
which he had been tied.

They soon came back with the sacks, were tied up in them,
and were thrown into the river by Loku-Appu.

Then Loku-Appu went to the tom-tom beaters' village,
and took possession of their lands and houses.

Some of the incidents of this story are found in No. 58 also.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. iii, p. 11, in a Bengal story, by
Mr. G. H. Damant, some men who had been cheated by a
farmer, called at his house regarding the matter. He offered them
food, and when they sat down to the meal struck his wife with his
bullock goad, and said, " Be changed into a girl, and bring in the
curry." She went out, and sent back their little daughter with
the food. He then sold the men the magic stick for one hundred
and fifty rupees, telling them that if they beat their wives well
with it they would all recover their youth. They acted accordingly,
and beat them so thoroughly that the wives were all killed. Then
they returned and burnt the farmer's house down, as noted at the
end of the last story, where the later incidents are given.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xviii, p. 120, there is a South Indian
story by Pandita NateSa Sastri, in which, when three persons who
had been cheated by a man came to interview him regarding the
frauds, they were welcomed by him. According to arrangement,
he beat his wife, who was dressed as an old woman, with a pestle
and put her inside the house, explaining to his guests that he had
only done it to make her young again. Soon afterwards she re-
appeared as a young woman. He lent them the magic pestle for a
week, but by its use they only killed their relatives. Then they
returned in order to square up accounts with him, tied hhn in a
bag, and carried him up a mountain, intending to burn him alive.

112 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

When they went for the firewood, a cow-herd came up, learnt from
him that he was about to be forcibly married to a girl, took his
place, and was burnt, the impostor himself driving off the 1,001
cows which the man was watching. When the three cheated per-
sons returned and learnt that he had been sent back from Kailasji
with the cattle, as his time on earth had not expired, two of them
got him to burn them in a similar way.

No. II

The White Turtle

AT a village there are an elder sister and a younger
sister, two persons. The two are going away, it is
said.

While going, they saw two bulls going along. Then
the cattle asked, " Where are you going ? "

" We are going to a country where they give to eat and
to wear " (meaning that they were in search of husbands).

" Are we good enough for you ? " ^ the cattle asked.

"What do you eat? " they asked.

" Having been put in those chenas we eat paddy and
jungle vegetables."

Sa3^ng, " We don't want you," the two women go on.

As they were going, they met with two jackal-dogs.
" Where are you going ? " they asked the two women.

" We are going to a country where they give to eat and
to wear," they said.

" Are we good enough for you ? " they asked.

" What do you eat ? " they asked.

" We eat a few fruits and crabs," the two (jackals said.
" What do you eat ? "

" We eat dried-fish fry," they said. Saying " We do
not want two jackals," the two women still go on.

While they were going, an elder brother and a younger
brother were ploughing. They asked the two women,
" Where are you going ? "

" We are going to a country where they give to eat and to
wear," they said.

^ Literally, " Are we bad ? "

lis T

114 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

" Are we good enough for you ? " they asked.

The two women asked, " What do you eat ? "

" We eat dry-fish fry," they said.

" Then both parties eat it," they said. " It is good."

" If so, it is good. Go to our house," the men said.^

Afterwards those two men, having given the two keys
of their houses into the hands of the elder sister and the
younger sister, said, " The cooking things are in such a
place ; go there, and having opened the doors cook until
we come."

Then the two women went to the houses, and the elder
sister opened the door of the elder brother's house and
cooked ; and the yotuiger sister opened the door of the
younger brother's house and cooked. Afterwards the two
men came home, and having eaten, stopped there [with the
sisters, as their husbands].

After many days had passed, the two sisters bore two
girls. The younger sister had many things at her house ;
the elder sister had none. On account of that, the elder
sister through ill-feeling thought, " I must kill younger
sister."

One day, the two sisters having cooked rice, while they
were taking it to the rice field the yoimger sister went in
front, and the elder sister went behind. On the way, they
came near the river. Then the elder sister said, " Younger
sister, didst thou never bathe ? The skin on thy back is
dirty. Take off that necklace and the clothes on thy body,
and lay them down, and let us bathe and then go."

They put down the two mat boxes of cooked rice, and
having descended into the river, she called, while bathing,
to her sister, " Younger sister, come here for me to rub thy
back." While rubbing she threw her into the middle of the
river. Then she took the two boxes of cooked rice and
went to the rice field. The younger sister died in the river.

After the elder sister went to the rice field, the younger
brother asked at the hand of the elder sister, " Why has
no one come from our house ? "

* Up to this point the story follows one related by a DurayS ;
the rest belongs to the cultivating caste.

THE WHITE TURTLE 115

Then the elder sister said, " Ando ! Catch her coming ! ^
Isn't she playing [illicit] games at home ? " Having given
the two boxes of rice to the elder brother and the younger
brother, that woman returned home.

Afterwards that younger sister's girl asked, " Loku-
Amma,2 where is our mother ? "

Then the woman said, " Ando ! Catch her coming !
When I came she was still stopping in the rice field."

After it became night, the elder brother and the younger
brother having come home, the younger brother asked,
" Girl, where is thy mother ? "

Then the girl said, " At noon she took cooked rice to the
rice field with Loku-Amma ; she has not come yet."

The younger brother said, " Where ? She did not go to
the rice field."

Then the girl said, " At the time when I asked at the
hand of Loku-Amma, ' Where is our mother ? ' she said,
' She is at the rice field.' "

Afterwards the elder sister, calling the elder brother
and the younger brother, both of them [to be her husbands],
took her sister's goods, and remained there with them.
From the next day, having cooked she gave the rice into
the hands of the two girls to take to the rice field.

After the girls had gone near the river for two or three
days, they saw one day a White Turtle in it, and ap-
proached and tried to catch it. When the elder sister's
girl went to catch it, it went to the middle of the river ;
when the younger sister's girl went, it came to the bank,
and rubbed itself over the whole of her body.

After the elder sister's girl had gone home, she told the
elder sister of it : " Mother, there is a White Turtle in the
river. When that girl goes it comes to her ; when I go it
swims far away," she said.

That elder sister said, " Ha. It is good. I shall eat it,"
and lay down.

1 Literally, " Is there any coming for her ? "

" Great Mother : The title of a mother's elder sister ; her younger
sister is called Punci-Amma, Little Mother. The letter c is pro-
nounced as ch in transliterations. I follow the village writers in
not marking the various forms of n ; they write punci or pu^ci.

ii6 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The younger sister's girl hearing it, went near the river,
and said, " Mother, she must eat you, says Loku-Amma."

Then the White Turtle said, " Ha. It is good, -daughter.
Let her eat. After she has cooked she will give you, also,
a little gravy, and a bone. Drink the gravy, and take
the bone to the cattle-fold, and having said, ' If it be true
that you are our mother, may you be created a Mango tree,'
throw it down."

Afterwards, when those two men came home, having'
seen that the woman was lying down, " What are you lying
down for ? " they asked.

Then the woman said, " It is in my mind to eat the
White Turtle that is in the river." So the men went to the
river, and having caught the White Turtle, and brought
it home, and cooked it, gave it to the woman. Then the
woman got up and ate it.

She gave the girl a little gravy, and a bone. The girl
having drunk the gravy, took the bone to the cattle-fold,
and saying, "If it be true that you are our mother, may
you be created a Mango tree," threw down the bone.

After that, a Mango tree being created, in a day or two
grew large and bore fruit. As the two girls were going
near the Mango tree they saw that there were Mangoes
on it, and went close to it. When the elder sister's girl
went to pluck the Mango fruits, the branches rose up ;
when the younger sister's girl went to pluck them, the
branches bent down, and spread over her body and head.
Well then, after that girl had plucked and eaten as many
as she wanted, the branches rose again.

That also the elder sister's girl, having come home, told
her : " Mother, there are fruits on the Mango tree at the
ca^ttle-fold. When I try to pluck them the branches rise ;
when that girl tries to pluck them the branches rub the
ground."

The woman said, " Ha. It is good. I will split that and
warm it in the fire."

After hearing that also, that girl, having gone to the
Mango tree said, " Mother, having split you she must warm
you in the fire, Loku-Amma says."

THE WHITE TURTLE ^ 117

Then the Mango tree said, " Ha. It is good, daughter.
Let her split. A splinter having fallen will remain here.
Take it, and having said, ' If it be true that you are our
mother, may you be created a Kaekiri creeper,' put it down
at the back of the house."

Afterwards, when the elder sister's two men came, having
seen that she was lying down, " What are you lying down
for to-day also ? " they asked.

Then the woman said, " Having split the Mango tree at
the cattle-fold, it is in my mind to have a few splinters
warmed for me in the fire." So the two men having gone
to the cattle-fold, and having cut and split up the Mango
tree, and brought a few splinters home, put them in the
fire and fanned it. After that, the woman got up, and
warmed herself at the fire.

Then that girl went to the place where the Mango tree
was, and when she looked a splinter was there. Taking it,
she came to the back of the house, and having said, " If
it be true that you are our mother, may you be created a
Kaekiri creeper," she put it down. In a day or two a Kae-
kiri creeper was created there, and bore fruits.

On going there, the younger sister's girl said, " There is
fruit," and having plucked and eaten as many as she wanted,
she came home. When the elder sister's girl went to pluck
them there was not a single fruit.-

Having returned home, the girl said regarding that also,
" Mother, on the Kaekiri creeper which is at the back of
the house there are many fruits when that girl goes to it ;
when I go, not a single one."

The woman said, " Ha. It is good. Having uprooted
it I will eat it in a dry curry."

That girl after hearing that also, went near the Kaekiri
creeper and said, " Mother, having uprooted you and cooked
you in a dry curry, she must eat you, says Loku-Amma."

The Kaekiri creeper said, " Ha. It is good, daughter.
Let her eat. At the place where I am uprooted there will
be a Kaekiri root. Take it to the river, and having said,
' If it be true that you are our mother, be created a Blue-
Lotus flower,' throw it into the river."

ii8 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The elder sister having uprooted the Kaekiri creeper,
took it home, and having cooked the curry, ate. After
that, the girl went to the place where the Kaekiri creeper
had been, and when she looked a Kaekiri root was there.
Having taken it to the river, and said, " If it be true that
you are our mother, be created a Blue-Lotus flower," she
threw it into the river. Then a Blue-Lotus flower was
created.

When the two girls were going together to the river to
bathe, having seen that there was a Blue-Lotus flower,
that younger sister's girl went and held out her hands in a
cup shape. Then the flower which was in the middle of
the river came into the girl's hands, and opened out while
in her hands. When the elder sister's girl was holding
her hands for it, it goes to the middle of the river.

That girl having come home, said of it also, " Mother,
there is a Blue-Lotus flower in the river. When that girl
goes it comes to her hands ; when I go it moves far away."

The woman said, " Ha ! It is good. That also I shall
seize, and take."

The girl after having heard that also, went and said,
" Mother, she must pluck you also, says Loku-Amma."

Then the Blue-Lotus flower said, " Let that woman say
so, daughter. She is unable to pluck me."

Afterwards the woman having told at the hands of the
two men, " Pluck the flower and come back," the two men
having, gone to the river tried to pluck it ; they could not.
When they are trying to pluck it, it goes to the middle of
the river.

Afterwards, the men having told it at the hand of the
King of the country, and having told the King to cause
the flower to be plucked and to give them it, the King also
came near the river on the back of an elephant, together
with the King's servants. The elder sister, and the two
girls, and the two men stayed on this side.

Then the people on this side and the people on that side
try and try to take that flower ; they cannot take it. That
younger sister's girl having gone to one side, after looking
on said, " Indeed I am able to take it, that flower." The

THE WHITE TURTLE 119

King on the other side of the river having heard that,
while he was on the back of the elephant, said, " What is it,
girl, that you are saying ? "

Then that girl said, " O Lord, I am greatly afraid to
speak ; I indeed am able to take it, the flower."

" Ha. Take it," the King said. Afterwards, when the
girl was holding her hands in a cup shape, the flower that
was in the middle of the river came into her hands.

Afterwards the King, taking that flower, and placing
the girl on the elephant, went to the King's city.

North-western Province.

In the Jataka story No. 67 (vol. i, p. 164), a woman went to a
King and begged for " wherewith to be covered," by which she
meant her husband, who had been arrested. She explained that
" a husband is a woman's real covering."

In Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes), p. 144, a girl who was supposed
to be drowned became a pink-lotus flower which eluded capture,
but came of its own accord into the hand of a Prince.

No. 12

The Black Storks' Girl

IN a certain country there are a woman and a man, it is
said. The man cuts jungle at a chena clearing ; the
woman is weaving a bag. After the man comes home, the
woman asks, " Is the jungle cut yet ? " The man says,
" A couple of bushes are cut ; is the bag woven ? " The
woman says, " A couple of rows are woven."

Continuing in that way, after the end of two or three
days the man, while returning from cutting jungle, saw a
Kaekiri creeper at a threshing-floor, and having come near,
and seen that there was a fruit on it, plucked and ate it.
A Kaekiri seed remained fixed in his beard.

After he came home, the woman, seeing it, asked, " Where
did you eat Kaekiri ? "

The man said, " When I was coming home there was a
Kaekiri creeper at a threshing-floor on the way ; on it
there was a fruit. I ate it."

Then the woman said, " There will be more on that creeper.
After I have woven the bag let us go there."

Afterwards, having gone with him to the threshing-floor,
she saw that the Kaekiri creeper had spread completely
over the floor, and that there were as many fruits as leaves.
While plucking them, she bore a girl there.

Afterwards, the man having plucked Kaekiri, and filled
and tied up the bag, said to the woman, " Shall I take the
girl, or shall I take the bag ? "

The woman told him to take the bag, leaving the girl

there. So the girl was left at the threshing-floor, and the

man and woman went home, taking the bag of fruit with

them.

uo

THE BLACK STORKS' GIRL 121

While a Black Stork [Mana) and a female Black Stork
(Manl) were going about seeking food, the female Stork
saw that a girl was at the threshing-floor, and having gone
near it, cried out, " Ade ! A thing for me 1 A(Je ! A thing
for me ! " When the male Stork heard this he came running
to the spot. Having looked at the girl, the two Black
Storks took her to' their house, and reared her there.

After a time, the girl having become big, the female
Black Stork and the male Black Stork said, " Daughter,
we must go for golden bracelets and golden anklets for
you."

At that house there were a Parrot, a Dog, and a Cat,
which were reared there. The two Storks told the girl,
" Daughter, after we have gone, do not reduce the food of
either the Parrot, or the Dog, or the Cat. Until we return,
be careful not to put out the fire on the hearth, and not to
go anywhere whatever." After saying this, they went to
bring the golden bracelets and golden anklets.

That girl having been careful for two or three days in
the way the female Stork and male Stork told her, lessened
the food of the Cat. That night the Cat extinguished the
fire on the hearth.

Next morning, the girl having gone to the hearth to
cook, when she looked there was no fire on the hearth.
So she said to the Parrot, " Younger brother, last night I
reduced the food of the Cat a little. For that, the Cat has
extinguished the fire on the hearth, and now there is no
fire for cooking. You go and look from which house smoke
is rising, and come back."

Then the Parrot having gone flying, looked and looked.
There was not any coming from any other houses ; from the
house of the Rakshasa, only, there was a smoke. The Parrot
having come home, said, " Elder sister, I looked at the whole
of the houses. There was not any ; only from the house
of the Rakshasa the smoke came." Afterwards the girl,
having said, " If so, younger brother, you stop at home
until I go and bring fire," went for the fire.

The Rakshasa was not at home ; only the Rakshasa's
wife was there. The girl having gone to that house, said,

122 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

" Give me a little fire." Then that woman made the girl
boil and dry seven large baskets of paddy (unhusked rice),
and pound the paddy in those seven, and bring seven large
pots of water, and bring seven bundles of firewood. Then
taking a piece of coconut shell with a hole in it, she put
ashes at the bottom, and having placed a fire-charcoal on
them, gave it to her. While the girl was going home, the
ashes fell through the hole all along the path.

Afterwards, when the Rakshasa came home, " What is
this, Bolan ? " he asked the woman ; " there is a smell
of a human body, a human body that has been here."

The woman said, " A girl came for fire. Thinking you
would come, I employed that girl, and having made her
boil seven baskets of paddy, and dry it, and pound it, and
bring seven large pots of water, and seven bundles of fire-
wood, when I looked you were not to be seen. Afterwards,
having placed ashes in a piece of coconut shell with a hole
in it, I put a fire-charcoal on them, and gave her it. By
this time she will have gone home. There will be ashes
along the path on which that girl went. Go, looking and
looking at the ashes-path," she said.

Afterwards the Rakshasa went along the ashes-path.
The Parrot having seen him coming in the rice field, said,
" Elder sister, the Rakshasa is coming. Shut the door,"
he said. So the girl, shutting the dobr and bolting it,
stopped in the house.

The Rakshasa having come'near the house, said, " Here
are golden bracelets, O dav^hter. Here are golden anklets,
O daughter. Open the door, my daughter."

Then the Parrot said, " No golden bracelets, O elder sister.
No golden anklets, O elder sister. Open not the door,
wise elder sister."

Then the Rakshasa ran to catch the Parrot. He could
not catch it ; the Parrot went into the forest and stayed
there.

Afterwards the Rakshasa having come again near the
house said, " Here are golden bracelets, O daughter. Here
are golden anklets, daughter. Open the door, my daugh-
ter."

THE BLACK STORKS' GIRL 123

Then the Dog, which was in the open space at the front
of the house, said, " No golden bracelets, elder sister.
No golden anklets, O elder sister. Open not the door,
wise elder sister."

The Rakshasa having gone running after the Dog, and
having caught and killed the Dog, came again near the
house, and said, " Here are golden bracelets, O daughter.
Here are golden anklets, O daughter. Open the door, my
daughter."

Then the Cat that was in the raised veranda said, " No
golden bracelets, O elder sister. No golden anklets, O
elder sister. Open not the door, wise elder sister."

The Rakshasa, having gone running, killed also the
Cat, and again having come near the house, said, " Heje
are golden bracelets, O daughter. Here are golden anklets,
O daughter. Open the door, my daughter."

Then the Gam-Murunga ^ tree said, " No golden bracelets,
O elder sister. No golden anklets, O elder sister. Open
not the door, wise elder sister."

Afterwards the Rakshasa, having cut down and broken
up the Gam-Murunga tree, again went near the house,
and said, " Here are golden bracelets, O daughter. Here
are golden anklets, O daughter. Open the door, my
daughter."

Then the Murunga logs said, " No golden bracelets, O
elder sister. No golden anklets, O elder sister. Open
not the door, wise elder sister."

The Rakshasa, having set fire to the logs, and gone
near the house again, said, " Here are golden bracelets, O
daughter. Here are golden anklets, O daughter. Open
the door, my daughter."

Then the ashes of the burnt Murunga tree said, " No
golden bracelets, elder sister. No golden anklets, O
elder sister. Open not the door, wise elder sister."

The Rakshasa, having collected the ashes, and taken
them to the river and placed them in it, and again having
gone to the house, said, " Here are golden bracelets, O

1 Moringa pterygospeymat

134 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

daughter. Here are golden anklets, O daughter. Open
the door, my daughter."

Then the water of the river said, " No golden bracelets,
O elder sister. No golden anklets, O elder sister. Open
not the door, wise elder sister."

Afterwards, the Rakshasa, having gone to the river, and
having drunk and drunk, could not finish the water, and at
last he burst open and died.

After that, the female Black Stork and the male Black
Stork brought the golden bracelets and golden anklets,
and having given them to the girl, remained there.

North-western Province.

In a variant of this story, related by a Duraya in the
North-western Province, the persons who abandoned the
child were a Gamarala and his wife, the Gama-mahage.

On the Storks' finding it, they cried, " A(Ja ! I have met
with a gem ! " Their home was in a rock-cave. When
the Parrot warned the girl that the Rakshasa was coming,
" having gone running, and having sprung into the cave,
she shut the door. The Rakshasa says, ' Having brought
bracelets for the arms, jackets for the body, cloths for
the waist, O daughter, open the door, my daughter.'

" Then the Parrot said, ' It is false that there are
bracelets for the arms, jackets for the body, cloths for the
waist. Open not the door, my elder sister."

" Then the Rakshasa tried to kill the Parrot. Having
flown away it settled on a tree. The Rakshasa having
smashed the Parrot's cage, again says, ' Having brought
bracelets for the arms,' " etc.

The Cat warned the girl and was killed, then the Dog,
next the Ash-plantain tree, and lastly the Katuru-Murunga
tree, I now translate again.

" After that, he struck a finger-nail into the lintel, and
having struck another finger-nail into the threshold, the
Rakshasa went away.

"" After that, the male Black Stork and female Black Stork
came. Having come, they say, ' Having brought bracelets

' THE BLACK STORKS' GIRL 125

for the arms, jackets for the body, cloths for the waist,
open the door, my daughter.'

" Then the Parrot says, ' It is true that there are bracelets
for the arms, jackets for the body, cloths for the waist,
elder sister. Open the door, my elder sister.'

" As she was coming out opening the door, her foot was
pricked by a finger-nail, and the crown of her head by a
finger-nail. Then becoming unconscious she fell down, the
finger-nails having entered her. Both Storks together drew
out the finger-nails."

She recovered, and they gave her the things they had
brought, but sent her away. The rest of the story is an
evident modern addition of no interest. She went to a
large chena, and was taken home by a widow who was
there.

In another variant of the Western Province the two
birds which reared the child were Crows. After the child
was born, the mother, a Gamarala's wife {Gama-Mahage or
Gama-Mahayiya) said, " Are we to take the child, or are
we to take the bag of Kaekiri ? " Her husband replied,
" Should we take the child it will be [necessary] to give it
to eat and to wear ; should we take the bag of Kaekiri
we shall be able to eat it for one meal." " So the Gama-
Mahage, having put the child among the Kaekiri creepers,
taking the bag went home." The Crows carried away
the infant, and called it Emal Bisawd, Queen of the Flowers.
When the girl had grown up, the birds went to bring pearls
for her to wear, after giving her the usual injunctions regar-
ding the food of the Dog, the Cat and the Parrot. She
reduced the Dog's food, and it put out the fire. The Parrot
found smoke rising from the house of a Rakshasi, and
guided her to the place. The Rakshasi was absent ; her
two daughters gave the girl two amunas (nearly twelve
bushels) of paddy to poujid. " She . thought, ' Having
been pounded, go into the house,' and it became pounded
of its own accord." Then they gave her seven perforated
pots to be filled with water and brought. She filled them
and handed them over. They gave her a piece of coconut

126 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

husk with a hole in it, and a perforated coconut shell, and
filled the former with sesame seeds, and the latter with
ashes on which was placed burning charcoal. She hurried
home with these, being warned by the Parrot that the
Rakshasi was coming.

When the Rakshasi asked her daughters who had been
to the house, they replied that the female Crow's girl had
taken some fire, and that there would be sesame and ashes
along the path by which she had gone. The Rakshasi
ran along it, found the door shut, and said, " Mother has
come. Father has come. We are bringing pearls of the
sea ; we are bringing also wire for stringing the pearls.
Open the door, O daughter." The Katuru-Murunga tree
warned her that it was false ; when it was burnt, its ashes
repeated the warning, then the Dog, the Cat, and the
Parrot. Then the Rakshasi, " having broken her finger
nails, and having fixed one above and one below in the
door-frame, went away. After that, her mother and
father came, and said, ' Mother has come. Father has
come. We are bringing pearls of the sea ; we are bringing
also wire for stringing the pearls. Open the door, my
daughter.' The Parrot said the same. As she opened
the door, a finger-nail having entered the crown of her
head she died. When they asked the Parrot, ' What has
happened ? ' ' Because of the Rakshasi elder sister died,'
he said."

In a fourth variant of the North-western Province the
aspect of the story is partly changed, and I give a translation
of the latter portion, because it contains an account of a
runaway match, such as still sometimes occurs.

In this story, a Gamarala's wife went with another
woman to the chena while the Gamarala was asleep, and
after eating as much fruit as possible they filled a bag also.
As they were proceeding home rapidly with it, the Gama-
rala's wife gave birth to a child at a hollow in which pigs
wallowed. She asked the other woman to carry it home
for her, but this person refused, and took the bag of Kaekiri
fruit instead, so the child was abandoned.

THE BLACK STORKS' GIRL 127

Then the two Storks came, and carried the child to their
cave, and reared it. After the girl grew up, they went off
to seek bracelets and necklaces for her, instructing the girl
to " give an equal quantity of food to the Cock, the Dog,
the Cat, the Parrot, the Crow, the Rat, and the other
creatures," and warning her that if she gave less to the
Rat it would extinguish the fire. After some days she
reduced the Rat's food, so it put out the fire.

The Parrot found a house — ^not a Rakshasa's- — from
which smoke was rising, and guided the girl to it. The
woman who was at it gave her some fire without dela3nng
her, and she returned home with it. I now translate the
concluding part.

" After the son of the woman who had the fire came
home, the woman says to her son, ' To-day a good-looking
Princess came to the house.' Then the son asks, ' Mother,
by which stile did the Princess go ? ' His mother says,
' Here, by this stile,' and showed him it.

" Then the man having set off, and having gone near the
cave, and seen the Princess, when he said, ' Let us go to
our house,' the Princess said, ' Because my parents are not
here [to give their consent] I cannot go.' This man says,
' No matter for that,' and seizing the hand of the Princess,
they came to his house.

" Afterwards the two Black Storks which went seeking
bracelets and rings, having come near the cave, when they
looked the Princess was not there. The Black Storks ask
the Dog, the Cat, the Crow, the ^Parrot, the Rat, and the
Cock, ' Where is the Princess ? ' They all say, ' A man
came, and while the Princess was saying she could not go
he seized her hand and took her away.' When the Storks
asked, ' By which stile did he take her ? ' saying, ' There,
by that stile,* the animals showed them it.

" Then the two Black Storks having gone flying, when
they looked the Princess was staying at the house. After-
wards the two Storks gave the Princess the bracelets, rings,
and coral necklaces which they had brought ; and having
handed her over to the man, the two Black Storks went to
their dwelling."

128 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

In Old Deccan Days, Ganges Valley (Frere), p. 87 S., there is a
variant according to which the child was carried cfi to their nest
by two eagles, from the side of the mother. After the eagles went
to bring a ring for her, the cat stole some food, and on being punished
by the girl put out the fire.

Thfi girl went to a Rakshasa's house for a light, and was detained
by his mother, pounding rice and doing other housework. She
left at last with instructions to scatter com along the path.

The Rakshasa followed the track and climbed to the nest, but
the outer door was bolted, and he could not enter, so he left his nail
in a crack of the door. When the girl opened the outer door — there
were seven in all — the nail wounded her hand, and being poisonous
apparently killed her.- The eagles returned, and seeing this flew
away. When a King arrived and drew out the nail, she recovered,
and he married her.

No. 13

The Golden Kaekiri Fruit

IN a certain city there are a man and his daughter, it is
said. The man's wife being dead, the girl cooks
food for the man. The man cuts jungle at a chena clearing.
The girl every day having cooked, and placed the food
ready for her father, goes to rock in a golden swing. ^ Then
a Mahage * comes and says, " Daughter, give me a little
fire." The girl sitting in the swing says, " Is it here with
me ? It is at the hearth ; take it." The Mahage goes
into the house, pulls out and takes the things which that
girl has cooked and placed there, and having eaten, carries
away the fire.

So, after two or three days had passed in that manner,
the man asked, " WhOj daughter, while I am coming home
has eaten the rice that you have cooked and placed for me ? "

Then the girl said, " I don't know, father. Every day
when I have cooked the food and placed it ready for you,
and gone to rock in the golden swing, a Mahage comes and
begs fire from me. Then I say, ' Is it here with me ? It
is at the hearth ; take it.' It will be the Mahage."

Then the man, having said, " Ha. Daughter, cook and
arrange the food to-day also, and go to the golden swing,"
got onto the shelf, and stayed there.

Afterwards the girl, having cooked and placed the food
exactly as on other days, went to the golden swing. Then
the Mahage having come on that day also, begged, " Daugh-

1 Ran oncillawa.

* A well-to-do woman of the village. Gama-Mahage is the title
of the wife of a Gamarala, a village headman or elder.

139 g

130 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

ter, give me a little fire." The girl said, "Is it here with
me ? It is at the hearth ; take it."

Then the Mahage having gone into the house, and drawn
out the pots, and eaten part of the rice, when she was
about to rise after taking the fire, the man on the shelf
asked, " What is that you have been doing ? "

The Mahage said, " What indeed ! Why don't you invite
me [to be your wife] ? "

The man said, " Ha. Stop here." So the woman stayed.

After a great many days had passed, the woman lay
down. " What are you Ipng down for ? " asked the man.

The woman said, " It is in my mind to eat your daughter's
two eyes."

Afterwards the man called the girl, and said, " Daughter,
a yoke of cattle are missing ; let us go and seek them."
While he went with the girl, taking a cord, the dog also
followed behind.

Having gone into a great forest, he said, " Daughter, come
here in order that I may look at your head." ^ While he
was looking and looking at it, the girl fell asleep. Then
the man placed the girl against a tree, and tied her to it ;
and having cut out her two eyes, came home and placed
one on the shelf and one in the salt pot. The dog that
went with the man having come home, howled, rolling
about in the open space in front of the house.

There was also a child. That little one having gone
somewhere, on coming back bringing a mango, asked that
Mahage, " Loku-Amma, give me a knife." The woman said,
" Have I got one here ? It is on the shelf ; get it."

Then the child, going into the house, and putting his
hand on the shelf, caught hold of the eye placed there by
the man, and said, " This is indeed our elder sister's eye.
Loku-Amma, give me a piece of salt."

The woman said, " Have I got any here ? Take it from
the salt pot."

When the child put his hand into the salt pot the other
eye was there. He took it also. When he stepped down

' To search for insects. She would sit down for the purpose.

THE GOLDEN KAEKIRI FRUIT 131

from the veranda of the house into the compound, the dog
went in front, and the child followed after him.

Having gone on and on, the dog came to the place in the
great forest where the girl was, and stopped there. When
the child looked, his elder sister was tied to the tree. He
saw that red ants were biting her from her eyes downward,
and having quickly unfastened her he took her to a tank,
and bathed her. Then taking both her eyes in his hand,
he said, " If these are our elder sister's eyes, may they be
created afresh," and threw them down. After that, they
were created better than before.

Afterwards the girl said, " Younger brother, we cannot
go again to that house. Let us go away somewhere." So
they went off. While they were going along the road, a
King was coming on horseback, tossing and tossing up a
golden Kaekiri fruit. The child, after looking at it, said,
" Elder sister, ask for the golden Kaekiri."

The girl replied, " Appa ! Younger brother, he will kill
both of us. Come on without speaking."

Then the child another time said, " Elder sister, ask for it
and give me it."

The King having heard it, asked, " What, Bola, is that
one sapng ? "

The girl replied, " O Lord, nothing at all."

" It was not nothing at all. Tell me," the King said a
second time.

Then the girl replied, " Lord, I am much afraid to say
it. He is asking for that golden Kaekiri."

The King said, " I will give the golden Kaekiri if thou wilt
give me thy elder sister."

The child said, " Elder sister and I, both of us, will come."

So the King, having placed the girl on horseback, went
to his city with the child, and married the girl.

After many days had passed, when the King was about
to go to a war the girl was near her confinement. So
the King said, " If it be a girl, shake an iron chain. If it
be a boy, shake a silver chain." Afterwards th« girl bore
a boy, and shook a silver chain.

Before the King came back, the girl's father and Loku-

132 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Amma (step-mother), having collected cobras'eggs, polangas'^
eggs, and the like, the eggs of all kinds of snakes, and
having cooked cakes made of them, came to the place
where the girl was.

The girl's Loku-Amma told her to eat some of the cakes.
When she did not eat them, that woman, taking some in
her hand, came to her and rubbed some on her mouth. At
that very moment the girl became a female cobra, and
dropped down into a hole in an ant-hill. Her father and
Loku-Amma went home again. The infant was crying on
the bed.

Afterwards, when the girl's younger brother was saying
to the golden Kaekiri : —

They'll me myself to kill devise ;
In bed the gold-hued nephew cries ;
As a lady, gold-hued sister rise," ^

the cobra returned [in her woman's form], and having
suckled and bathed the infant, and sent it to sleep, again
[becoming a snake] goes back to the ant-hill.

Then the King having returned, asked the younger
brother, " Where, Bola, is thy elder sister ? "

The child said, " Our father and Loku-Amma having
cooked a sort of cakes came and gave us them, and Loku-
Amma told elder sister to eat. Afterwards, as she did not
eat, Loku-Amma, taking some, rubbed them on elder sister's
mouth. At that very moment elder sister became a female
cobra, and dropped down into an ant-hill."

Then the King asked, " Did she not return again, after
she had dropped down into the ant-hill ? "

The child replied, " While I was calling her she came back
once."

The King said, " Call her again in that very way."

So the boy said to the golden Kaekiri,

They'll me myself to kill devise ;
In bed the gold-hued nephew cries ;
As a lady, gold-hued sister rise."

* Daboia russelli.

2 Un mamma nasindayi,
Ranwan haena aende andandayi,
Ranwan akka samine wendayi.

THE GOLDEN KAEKIRI FRUIT 133

Afterwards, the cobra came [in her woman's form], and
having suckled and bathed the child, and sent it to sleep,
cooked for the King, and apportioned the food for him.

Then when she tried to go away [in her cobra form], the
King cut the cobra in two with his sword. One piece
dropped down into the ant-hill ; the other piece became the
Queen, and remained there.

After that, the King collected cobras, polangas, all kinds
of snakes, and having, with the Queen, put them into two
com measures, they took the two boxes, and went to the
house where the Queen's father and Loku-Amma were.
There they gave them the two boxes, and said, " We have
brought presents for you. Go into the house, and having
shut the door, and lowered the bolt, open the mouths of the
two boxes. Otherwise, do not open the mouths in the
light." The King and Queen remained outside.

The Queen's father and Loku-Amma, taking the two
boxes, went into the house, and having shut the door and
bolted it, opened the mouths of the two boxes. At that
moment, the snakes that were in them came out, and bit
both of them, and both of them died.

Afterwards, the King and Queen came to the city, and
stayed there.

North-western Province.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 132, a girl received a fan, the
shaking of which summoned a Prince, however far away he might be.

At p. 239 also, a Queen received a golden bell, the ringing of which
summoned the absent King.

In the Sinhalese story, it is evidently to be understood that the
shaking of the chain would be heard by the King while he was away,
although the narrator omitted to mention this.

No. 14

The Four Deaf Persons

IN a certain city there were a woman and a man^ it is
said. Both of them were deaf. A female child was
born to that man, and this child was also deaf. The man
to whom she was given in marriage when she grew up was
also deaf.

The girl's husband went to plough a rice field at the side
of the high road. While he was ploughing, a man who was
going along the road asked the way. Continuing to plough
with the yoke of bulls, the deaf man said, " I brought this
bull from the village. This other bull is from father-in-
law's herd."

" What are the facts about the bulls to me ? Tell me
the way," the man said.

The deaf man replied, " The bull is from my herd."

The man said again, " What are the facts about the bulls
to me ? Tell me the way."

Then the deaf man, replying, " Don't say that another
time," beat the man with the goad, and the man having
received the blows went away.

Afterwards, the deaf man's wife having brought cooked
rice to the field, he unfastened the cattle which had been
ploughing, and while he was eating said to the woman, " A
man came just now, and saying, ' Whose is the yoke of
bulls ? ' quarrelled with me about them."

The woman replied, " Through seeking firewood and water
and vegetables, and cooking, I was a little late in the day
in coming."

Having quarrelled with him over it, she bounded off,
and having gone home, went to the place where her mother

134

THE FOUR DEAF PERSONS 135

was plaiting a mat, and said to her, " Mother, our house
man quarrelled with me, saying that I was late in taking
the rice."

The woman said, " Marry thy father ! What is it to thee
whether my works are good or not good now ? " and she
quarrelled with her.

The woman having gone to the place where her husband
was watching a sweet-potato chena during the day time,
on account of thieves uprooting the plants, said, " To-day
my daughter having taken cooked rice to the field, and hav-
ing given it and returned, quarrelled with me, saying that
the plaiting of my mat was bad. I also indeed scolded
her a great deal, saying, ' What is it to thee whether my
works are good or not good now ? ' I have come to tell
you about it."

Then the man said, " Bola, you infamous woman ! Be-
cause I stopped in the chena you cooked and ate three sweet-
potatoes, did you ? " and he beat and drove away the
woman.

Then saying that it was useless to go on with the chena
when his wife was eating the crop, he cut the fence, and
abandoned it to the cattle. And the man left the village
and the district, and went away.

North-western Province.

The quarrels of deaf persons through misunderstanding each
other's remarks form a common subject of folk-tales. The mistakes
of three deaf people are related in Folklore in Southern India (Natesa
Sastrl), p. 3 ff., and Tales of the Sun (Kingscote and N. Sastri),
p. I ff.

The Abb6 Dubois published another amusing South Indian
variant, which recounted the mistakes of four deaf men (le Pantcha-
Tantra, 1872, p. 339 ff.). The four peisons in it were a shepherd,
a village watchman, a traveller who was riding a stolen horse, and
a Brahmana. The shepherd requested the watchman to look after
his flock during his temporary absence. In reply the latter refused
to let him have the grass that he had cut. On the shepherd's return,
he offered him a lame lamb as a reward for the trouble he thought
the man had taken, but the watchman fancied he was being accused
of laming it. They stopped a horseman who was riding past, and
asked him to decide their quarrel. In reply, he admitted that the
horse was not his. Each thought the decision was against him, and

136 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

cursed him for it ; and while the quarrel was at its height they
referred it to a Brahmana who came up, who replied that it was
useless for them to stop him, as he was determined never to return
to his wicked wife. " In the crew of devils I defy any one to find
one who equals her in wickedness," he said. The horse-thief, ob-
serving men coming in the distance, made o& on foot, the shepherd
returned to his flock, the watchman, seeing the lamb left, took it
home in order to punish the shepherd for his false charge, and the
Brahmana stayed at a rest-house, and went home again next day.
In the Conies Soudanais (W. Africa), by C. Monteil, p. i8 fi., there
is a story which resembles both this South Indian one and the Sin-
halese T)ne, in part. A shepherd in search of a lost sheep asked a
cultivator about it. He replied, " My field begins before me and
ends behind me." The shepherd found the sheep, and offered it to
the cultivator in payment for quarters for the night. The latter
thought he was being charged with stealing it, and took him before
a village headman, who remarked, " Still another story about
women ! Truly this can't continue ; I shall leave the village."
When he told his wife to accompany him, she said she would never
live with a man who was always talking of divorcing her.

No. 15

The Prince and the Yaka

A KING of a single city had one son, who was a Prince
of five years. At that time, a Yaka ^ having settled
in that kingdom began to devour the people of the city,
and by reason of this the whole city was like to be abandoned.
At last, the King and the men of the city, making great
efforts, seized the Yaka, and having made an iron house,
put him in it, and shut the door.

At that time it became necessary for the King of the city
to go to war. After he had gone off to the war, when the
King's son one day had opened the door of the house in
which was the man-eating Yaka, and was looking at him,
the Yaka fell down, and made obeisance to him, and signify-
ing his misery to the Prince, began to weep. So the Prince,
pitying him, told the Yaka to go away. Then the Yaka,
saying to the Prince, " It is good. I will assist you, too,"
went away.

After he had left, when the Prince had gone home the
King who had gone to the war returned, having conquered.
When he looked at the room in which the Yaka had been,
the door was open. The King asked who had opened the
door. The Queen replied that the Prince opened it. Then
the King said, " To-morrow I must behead that wicked
Prince."

The Queen, being sorry at this, having tied up a packet
of cooked rice, and given it and money to the Prince, and
having given him a horse and sword, said, " The King has
settled to behead you to-morrow for letting the Yaka escape.
Go away at night to any country you like."

1 In these stories the Yakas are always evil spirits or demons.

137

138 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

So the Prince, taking the money and the bundle of cooked
rice, and the sword, mounted the horse, and set off to go
to another country. There was a travellers' shed at the
road along which he was going. As he was unable to go
further on account of weariness, he went that night to the
travellers' shed ; and having fastened the horse to one of
the posts of the shed, he lay down, placing the bundle of
rice at his side.

Then seeing a youth running along the road, he called him,
and asked, " Boy, where art thou going ? "

The boy said, " I am going to a place where they give
to eat and to wear."

Then the Prince said, " I will give you pay. Stop and
look after my horse."

The youth said, " It is good. I will stay."

The Prince said, " I do not know the fords in this country ;
therefore tell me of a path by which we can go to another
country."

The youth rephed, " There is a river here. On the other
side of it there is a city, to go to which there is not a short
road from here. However, there is another road further on.
By it we must pass over a bridge."

" If so," said the Prince, " having bathed here let us go."

Having seen that three Princesses who were at the city
on the other side were bathing, he also was pleased at bathing
there. After he had gone to bathe, the three Princesses of
the King of the country on the other side, when they looked
saw the good figure of this Prince.

After that,. as the Prince wished to go after bathing, the
youth who was to look after the horse having mounted it,
began to ride away, wearing the Prince's clothes, and taking
the sword.

When the Prince, having bathed, and seen the Princesses
on the other bank putting on their clothes, came ashore to
put on his clothes, on his looking for them there were no
clothes, no sword, no horse. The youngest Princess of the
three who had bathed on the other side well knew what had
happened.

This Prince, having on only his bathing cloth, bounded

THE PRINCE AND THE YAKA 139

dff, and while running along overtook the horse and youth.
When he was still far away, the youth said, " Do not come
near me ; should you come I will cut you with the sword.
If you are willing to look after this horse, take hold of its
tail and come."

Then because that one in any case must go to the city,
he said, " It is good," and having taken hold of the horse's
tail went with him. Going thus from there, they arrived
at the city.

It was a custom of the King of that country that, having
sent a guard, when any one of the men of another country
arrived, he was to write the names of those persons, and
come to the King. When these persons arrived, a guard
being there asked their names. The youth who came on
the horse said, " My name is Manikka Settiya ; except the
youth who looks after my horse, there is no one else with
me."

The guard having gone, said to the King, " Lord, a person
called Manikka Settiyare has come and is there, together
with a horse-keeper."

Then the King thought, " Because the man called Manikka
Settiyare has this name, Manikka, he will be able to value
my gem" (manikya). A geni of the King's having been
taken through the whole country, no one had been able to
value it.

So having summoned that Manikka Settiyare, the King,
after giving him food and drink, showed him it, and said,
" Manikka Settiyare, there is my gem. Can you value it ? "

That Manikka Settiyare replied, " My horse-keeper will
tell you the value."

The King became angry because he said, " My horse-
keeper will tell you it," and indignantly caused the horse-
keeper to be brought speedily, and asked, " Can you value
this ? " The horse-keeper Prince said, " If I try hard I
can." Then the King gave it into his hands.

Taking it and weighing it, and learning when he looked
at it that there was sand inside the gem, he said, "As it
now appears to me, the value of this gem is four sallis " (half-
farthings).

140 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The King becoming angry asked, " How do you know ? "
The Prince rephed, " There is sand inside this gem."
Then the King asked, " Can you cut it, and show me it ? "
The horse-keeper said, " If you will ask for the sword
belonging to that Manikka Settiyare, I will cut it and show
you it."

After that, the King gave him the sword that was in the
hand of the Settiyare. Then the horse-keeper, taking the
sword, and remembering the name of his father the King,
and thinking, " By the favour of the Gods, if it be appointed
that it will happen to me to exercise sovereignty over this
city, I must cut this gem like cutting a Kaekiri fruit," put
the gem on the table, and cut it with the sword. Then the
sand that was in the gem fell out, making a sound, " Sara
sara."

Afterwards the King, thinking, " When this horse-keeper
knows so much, how much doesn't this Settirala know ! "
having given food and drink to the horse-keeper, and also
to the Settiyare, and having greatly assisted them, made
them stay there a little time.

The youngest Princess well knew the wicked things that
this Settiyare was saying about the horse-keeper youth.
On account of her great sorrow concerning this horse-keeper,
the Princess instructed the butler who gave the food at the
royal house : " Give the horse-keeper who accompanied
that Manikka Settiyare, food like that you prepare for me,
and a bed for sleeping on, and assist him a little."

After that, the butler and the rest helped him. The Prince
was unwilling to enjoy that pleasure. " Ane ! I am a
horse-keeper. Do not you assist me in that way," he said.
After that, the King's youngest Princess, for the sake of
sending the Prince away from the post of looking after the
horse, went to the King, and wept while sa5dng thus :
"Ane! Father, ^ because of this youth who looks after
them, my sheep are nearly finished. On that account, taking
the horse-keeper who came with that Settiyare, to look after
my sheep, let us send the youth who looks after the sheep
to look after the horse."

^ Piyanan-wahanse.

■ THE PRINCE AND THE YAKA 141

The King replied, " Having asked the Settiyare we can
do it."

The King having asked the Settiyare the thing she told
him, " You can do it," he said ; and after he had thus
spoken to the Settiyare it was done. So the horse-keeper
went to look after the sheep. Having gone there, while he
was looking after them for a long time, the sheep increased
in number by hundred? of thousands.

One day, when the King had gone for hunting sport into
the midst of the forest, he was seized there by a Yaka.
After being seized, he undertook to give the Yaka the King's
three Princesses, and having escaped by undertaking this
charge he came back.

Next day he made a proclamation through the whole city
by beat of tom-toms. What was it ? " Having been seized
yesterday in the forest by a Yaka, I only escaped by promis-
ing to give him my three Princesses. To-morrow a Princess,
on the day after to-morrow a Princess, on the day after that
a Princess ; in this manner in three days I am giving the
three Princesses. If a person who is able to do it should
deliver them, having married that person to them, I will
appoint him to the kingdom."

Then Manikka Settiyare said, " I can do it."

On that day, that Prince who was looking after the sheep
went to look after them. While he was there, a man, taking
a sheep, ran off into the chena jungle. While bounding
after him in order to recover it, having gone very far, the
Prince saw him go down the hole of a polanga snake.

After going near the polanga's hole, and looking down it,
and seeing that the hole descended into the earth, the Prince
went along that tunnel. Having gone on from there it be-
came dark, and going on in the darkness he saw a very great
light. Having gone to the light, when he looked about
there was a man asleep, wearing very many clothes.

Then it was in the mind of this shepherd to go away, and
in his mind not to go. If you should say, " Who was sleeping
there ? " it was the Yaka who had formerly been in that iron
house, and had left it. That Yaka at that very time saw in
a dream that the Prince who had sent him out of that house

142 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

had come to him, and was there. While seeing him in the
dream, the sleeping Yaka awoke, and when he looked up the
Prince was beside him.

The Yaka, getting up from there, went to the Prince, and
while he was embracing him the Prince became afraid.
Then the Yaka said, " Lord, let not Your Majesty be afraid.
The Yaka whom you sent away from that house is I indeed."

After that, the Prince sat down. Then the Yaka asked,
" Where are you going ? "

The Prince replied, " That I sent you away, our father
the King decreed as a fault in me, and appointed that I
should be beheaded. Then our mother, having tied up and
given me a bundle of cooked rice, told me to go anywhere I
wanted." Having said this he told him all the matter.

After that, the Yaka brought the lost sheep, and having
given it to the Prince, asked, " What more do you want ? "

The Prince said, " I want another assistance."

" What is the assistance ? " he asked.

The Prince replied, " After I had remained in this way,
the King, the father of the Princess who looks after the
sheep, and of two more Princesses, having gone hunting and
been caught by a Yaka, is giving the three Princesses to
him as demon offerings. If there should be a person who
can deliver them, he has made proclamation by beat of tom-
toms that having given to him the three Princesses in mar-
riage, he will also give him a part of the kingdom."

The Yaka said, " It is good. I will bring and give you
victory in it. Be good enough to do the thing I tell you.
After you have eaten rice in the evening, be good enough
to come to this palace." He then allowed the Prince to
return home.

The Prince having eaten his rice in good time, went to
the Yaka. After he had gone there, the Yaka having given
him a good suit of clothes, and a horse, and a sword, in-
structed him : " As you go from here there will be a path.
Having gone along that path, there will be a great rough
tree. Go aside at it, and while you are waiting there the
Yaka from afar will make a cry, ' Hu.' Having come to
the middle of the chena jungle he will say again, ' Hu, HG,

THE PRINCE AND THE YAKA 143

Hu.' At the next step, having bounded to the place where
the Princess is stopping, he will again say, ' Hu.' After
he has said this, as he comes close to the Princess you will
be good enough to step in front. Then the Yaka, becoming
afraid, will look in the direction of your face ; then be good
enough to cut him down with the sword."

The Prince having gone in that manner to the tree, when
he looked about, Manikka Settiyare having cHmbed aloft
was in a fork of the trunk, lamenting, having turned his back.
While he was lamenting he saw this Prince coming, and
[thinking it was the Yaka], trembled and lost his senses.

Then, in the very manner foretold, the Yaka came, crying
and crying out. As he came near the Princess, the Prince
cut him down, and having drawn out and cut off his tongue,
and also asked for a ring off the hand of the Princess, came
away to the palace of the friendly Yaka. Having arrived
there, and placed there the clothes, the horse, and the tongue,
all of them, he returned to his house before any one arose.

Manikka Settiyare, having descended in the morning,
chopped the Yaka's body into bits, and smeared the blood
on his sword. While he was there, the King went in the
morning to see if the Princess was dead or alive. Having
arrived there, he saw Manikka Settiyare there looking on,
and he returned to the city, taking Manikka Settiyare and
the Princess.

On the next night, also, they went and tied another
Princess. The Prince that night also having gone there,
killed a Yaka who came, and cut off the Yaka's tongue, and
after asking for a jewelled ring came away. That time,
also, Manikka Settiyare went there, and after smearing
blood on his sword remained there. The King went there
in the morning, and calling the two persons came away.

On the following day he did the very same to the other
Princess. This Prince, having taken away the three jewelled
rings that were on the hands of the three Princesses, and the
three tongues of the three Yakas that he had cut off, re-
mained silent.

As Manikka Settiya had come falsely smearing blood on
his sword each morning, as though he had killed the Yakas, the

144 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

King sent letters to all royal personages : " Manikka Settiya
has cut down three such powerful Yakas, and has delivered
the three Princesses who had been devoted to be given
as a demon offering to the Yaka who seized me when I went
hunting. Because of that, I am giving the three Princesses
to him in marriage. You must come to the festival, and
look at the Yakas who have been killed." After that, the
royal persons came from those countries.

While they were there, that Prince went to the palace of
the friendly Yaka. The Yaka having given that Prince
golden clothes, and a golden crown and necklace, and a
golden sword, told him to go, taking those rings and tongues,
and mounted on a white horse. The Prince putting on those
things, and mounting the white horse, went.

When he went to the palace where the royal persons were
who had come to fulfil the object of the occasion, those royal
persons became afraid, and having made obeisance to him,
asked, " Lord, where is Your Majesty going ? "

" ' I have cut down a very powerful sort of Yaka.' Letters
went through foreign countries to this effect, and that there
is a marriage festival for the person who killed the Yaka.
On account of the news I also have come to look," he
said.

After that, those royal persons said, " It is good, Lord,"
and with pleasure showed him the heads of the Yakas.

Then this Prince asked, " Is there or is there not a tongue
to every living being whatever ? "

Every one said, " Yes, there is one."

The Prince having looked for the tongues in the mouths
of the Yakas, asked, " What is this, that there are not
tongues for these Yakas ? "

After that, every one asked it of Manikka Settiya.
Manikka Settiya being afraid, remained without speaking.

Then he asked it of the two eldest Princesses. The two
Princesses said, " We do not know."

At the time when he was asking it of the youngest Princess,
she replied, seizing the hand of the Prince who split off the
tongues and took the jewelled rings, " This one went away
after taking in his hand the ring, and cutting off the tongue

THE PlilNCE AND THE YAKA 145

of the Yaka." After that, the Prince brought to light the
three rings and the three tongues, and showed them.

Speedily having beheaded and cast out Manikka Settiya,
they carried out the wedding festival of the marriage of the
three Princesses to the Prince. After that, those royal
personages went to their own kingdoms, and the kingdom
having been bestowed on this Prince he remained there
ruling it.

North-western Province.

In the Jataka story No. 510 (vol. iv, p. 305), an iron house was
built, in which a King's son was confined for sixteen years in order
to preserve him from a female Yaka who had carried off two chil-
dren born previously. The demon was unable to break into it.

In the Jataka story No. 513 (vol. v, p. 13), there is an account of
a King who was seized by an Ogre while hunting. The latter al-
lowed the King to go home on a promise to come back next day to
be eaten. His heroic son returned in his place, but was spared by
the Ogre. The Prince said of these beings, " The eyes of Ogres are
red, and do not wink. They cast no shadow, and are free from all
fear."

No. i6

How a Yaka and a Man fought

IN a certain country three men went shooting/ it is
said. At the time when the three persons were
going, one man was obliged to go aside for a certain purpose.
The man went aside without telling those two men.

A Yaka saw the man separate from those two persons.
Having seen it, the Yaka seized the man, and began to
push against him. At that time those two men were
very distant. The men having said, " What has happened
to this man ? " came to look for him. When they came
[they saw that] there was a black one near the man. The
two persons" spoke together, " Let us shoot this black one."
So they shot ^ him. Then the black one went out of the
way.

Afterwards the men went to look near at hand. When
they went the man had fallen. After that, having taken
hold of the man and raised him, when they looked at him
the man's body having gone quite slimy he was unconscious
also.

Afterwards, while the two men, raising [and carrying]
that man, were [endeavouring] to come away, the Yaka
did not allow them to come. He shakes the bushes ; he
breaks the trees ; he blocked up the path all along. One
man of the two men looked upward. Then the Yaka spit
into the man's eye, and the man's eye became blind.

Well then, the two men having uttered and uttered
spells, with pain lifting up [and carrpng] that man, came

' The word used indicates the use of guns, and not bows and
arrows.

us

HOW A YAKA AND A MAN FOUGHT 147

to the village. Having come there, and summoned a
Yaksa Vedarala 1 to restore the man to consciousness,
when he arrived they showed him this man. Then the
Yaksa Vedarala told them to warm a large pot of water.
So they warmed the water. After that, having bathed
the man, and having uttered spells, after the Vedarala
had tied protective written spells and diagrams ^ on him
the man became conscious.

After that, the Yaksa Vedarala and those two men
asked about the circumstances that had occurred. The
man said, " A Yaka having come, seizing me pressed against
me for me to roll over on to the ground. What of that ?
I did not fall [on account of it]. After you two fired, indeed,
I fell. Then the Yaka bounded off, and went away. Well,
I don't know anything after that. Whether you came
and lifted me up, or what, I do not know."

The man having recovered from that, again the Yaka
came, and having possessed the man he began to have the
powers conferred by "possession."' Afterwards that
Yaksa Vedarala having come again, and given the Yaka
many offerings placed on frames {dola pident), the Yaka
went out of the way. The man remained very well [after-
wards].

North-western Province.

* A Vedarala (medical practitioner) or another man who knows
the spells and magical practices which have power over demons.

" Arakshd baendald.

* £ minihdta waehila, mdyan wenda patangatid.

No. 17
Concerning a Man and Two Yakas

IN a certain country there was a man who had cut a
chena. The man, without any one joining with him,
went one day and made ready to cut a fresh chena at a
place where there was a large tree.

Then the Yaka who dwelt in the tree became afraid,
and having descended to the ground, and having saidj
" Lord, do not cut a chena here. At every eventide I
will bring and give you rice, coconuts, chillies, etc.," he
made obeisance. The man said, " It is good," and went
home.

That very evening the Yaka brought and gave him
rice and all things sufficient for curries, and went away.
After that, in no long time the man became in a good
position and wealthy, through the Yaka's bringing him
his provisions.

When coming afterwards, the Yaka met another Yaka,
who asked, " Where are you taking those things ? "

The Yaka replied, " A man came to cut the residence
in which I stay. On account of it, I promised to give
him food and goods."

Then the Yaka said, " Do thou give the things to-day
only. I will kill the man to-morrow."

The other Yaka said, " It is good."

On the following day, when the man of that house was
going somewhere or other, the Yaka who said, " I will
kill him," came to the house, and having crept under the
bed remained there. At that time the man returned,
and sitting on the bed, said to his wife, " Bola, I am hungry
enough to eat a Yaka."

CONCERNING A MAN AND TWO YAKAS 149

His wife had placed the knife on the shelf, and having
plucked a pine-apple had put it under the bed. The
woman [not seeing the Yaka], said, " Look there ! On
the shelf. Look there ! Under the bed."

So the man, taking the knife that was on the shelf, went
near the bed to get the pine-apple. Then the Yaka, thinking
he was coming to kill and eat him, said, " Lord, do not
eat me. 1 will bring and give you each month anything
you want."

So the man saying, " It is good," sent away the Yaka.

Then the Yaka met that other Yaka, and said, " When I
went to set you free I also was caught. Both of us are
in the same state."

After that he gave the things monthly. Then this
man having become a great wealthy person, remained so.

North-western Province.

In a variant in Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), pp. 258-260, a barber
f righteiied a Bhuta (evil spirit) who was going to eat him, by threaten-
ing to put him in his bag. He took out his looking-glass, and showed
the Bhiita his reflection, which the evil spirit thought was another
imprisoned one. The Bhiita promised to obey the barber's orders,
and provided money, and a granary filled with paddy. The Bhuta's
uncle told him that he had been cheated ; but he was treated in
the same way, and made to build another granary, and fill it with
rice.

No. i8

The Three Questions^

IN a certain country, as a man was going through the
middle of a city he met a man of the city, and asked
him, " In what manner does the King of this city rule ? "

The man said, " It does not appear to us that he has
any fault."

Then the man said [sarcastically] : " Does the King of
this city know these three matters — the centre of this
country, the number of the stars in the sky, and the work
which the King of the world of the Devas ^ does ? " Having
asked this, that wicked man went through the midst of
the city.

Afterwards, the man of the city came to the palace,
and declared to the King that there were three matters
regarding which a man had wanted information. After
he had informed him, the King asked, " What are the
three matters ? "

The man said, " The centre of the country, the number
of the stars in the sky, and the work which the King of
the world of the Devas does ; these three matters," he
said.

Then the King, having caused the Ratemahatmayas —
(the highest provincial Chiefs) — to be told that he ordered
them to come, after he had asked them concerning these
three matters, the Chiefs said that they could not tell
him the answers. When they said that, the king com-

1 The Sinhalese title is, " The manner in which the Youth who
looked after the Goats became King."
• Inferior Gods, ruled by Indra.

THE THREE QUESTIONS 151

manded that the Ratemahatmayas should be beheaded.
Thereupon the executioners came and beheaded them.

After that, he caused the Adikaramas — (the Ministers) —
to be brought, and asked them if they knew these three
matters. Those persons also said that they could not
explain them. He commanded that party also to be
beheaded, and the executioners came and beheaded them.

Having beheaded all the people of both parties, there
remained still the Royal Preceptor ^ only, so he caused the
Royal Preceptor to be brought, and asked him regarding
these matters. Then the Royal Preceptor said, " I cannot
tell you about them to-day. I will tell you to-morrow."
After he had said this he returned to his house, and having
come there, Is^ng down prone on the bed he remained
without speaking a word.

The youth who looked after the Royal Preceptor's goats
came at that time, and asked, " For what reason are you
lying down, Sir ? "

The Royal Preceptor said, " They beheaded the Adika-
rama party and the Ratemahatmaya party to-day ; they
will behead me to-morrow. The post that I have told
thee of [under the executioner] will be made over to
one's self."

The youth said, " Lord, you must tell me the reasons
for it."

The Royal Preceptor replied, " If I should be unable
to-morrow to say which is the centre of the country, the
number of the stars, and the work which the God of the
world of the Devas does, they will behead me to-morrow."

Then the youth said, " Are you so much troubled about
that ? I will say those very things for you."

Afterwards, at the time when the Royal Preceptor, on
the morning of the following day, was setting off to go
to the palace, he called the youth, and went with him to
the palace. The King asked for the answers to these three
sayings. Then the Royal Preceptor said, " What is there
in these for me to tell you ? Even the youth who looks after

1 Raja Gurunnanse, probably the Purohita Brahmana, the King's
spiiitual adviser.

152 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

the goats for me knows those three sayings." Then he
told the youth to come forward, and the youth came near
the King.

The King asked, " Dost thou know the centre of the
country, and the number of the stars, and the work which
the God of the world of the Devas does ? "

The youth fixed a stick in the ground, and showed it.
" Behold ! Here is the centre of one's country. Measure
from the four quarters, and after you have looked at the
account, if it should not be correct be good enough to
behead me," he said. The King lost over that.

Then he told him to say the number of the stars in the
sky. Throwing down on the ground the goat-skin that
he was wearing, " Count these hairs, and count the stars
in the sky. Should they not be equal be good enough
to behead me," he said. The King lost over that also.
Thirdly, he told him to say what work the God of the
world of the Devas does.
The youth said, " I will not say it thus." "'

The King asked, " If so, how will you say it ? "
The youth said, " Should you decorate me with the
Royal Insignia, and put on me the Crown, and give the
Sword into my hands, and place me on the Lion-throne,
I will say it."

Then the King, having caused that youth to bathe,
and having decorated him, placed him upon the Lion-
throne.

After that, he called the executioners, and said to them,
" Ade ! This one beheaded so many [innocent] pepple ;
because of that take him and go, and having beheaded
him, cast him out. Behold ! That indeed is the work
which the King of the world of the Devas does," he said.
Thus, having killed the foolish King, the youth who looked
after the goats obtained the sovereignty ; and ruling the
kingdom together with the Royal Preceptor, he remained
there in prosperity.

North-western Province.

The dramatic, and apparently improbable, ending of

THE THREE QUESTIONS 153

this Kandian story is founded upon an historical fact.
It is recorded in the Mahavansa, the Sinhalese history
(Part I, chapter 35), that King Yasalalaka-Tissa, who
reigned in Ceylon from 5a to 60 a.d., had a young gate
porter or messenger called Subha, who closely resembled
him in appearance. The Mahavansa relates the story of
the King's deposition by him as follows (Tumour's trans-
lation) : —

" The monarch Yasalalaka, in a merry mood, having
decked out the said Subha, the messenger, in the vestments
of royalty, and seated him on the throne, putting the
livery bonnet of the messenger on his own head, stationed
himself at a palace gate, with the porter's staff in his hand.
While the ministers of state were bowing down to him
who was seated on the throne, the King was enjoying the
deception.

" He was in the habit, from time to time, of indulging
in these scenes. On a certain occasion (when this farce
was repeated), addressing himself to the merry monarch,
the messenger exclaimed : ' How does that messenger
dare to laugh in my presence ? ' and succeeded in getting
the King put to death. The messenger Subha thus usurped
the sovereignty, and administered it for six years."

A variant was related to me by the resident monk at a
Buddhist temple to the south of Colombo. Its tenour was
as follows : —

The Four Difficult Questions.

A certain King put four questions to a Sangha-raja,
or Superior of the Buddhist monks. The first one was,
" How deep is the sea ? " the second, " How many stars
are there ? " the third, " Which is the centre of the
earth ? " and fourthly, he must tell the King what he,
the King, thought. The Sangha-raja was allowed a certain
time in which to find answers to the questions.

One day a monk seeing him sad, asked him the reason,
and was told that the King had put these questions to him.

154 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

and had threatened to take his life if he could not answer
them.

The monk told him not to have any fear, and said that
he would go on the appointed day, and answer the King.
When the day came round, the monk dressed himself in
the Sangha-raja's robes, and appeared before the King,
saying that he was ready to answer the questions.

The King asked him, " How deep is the sea ? " He
replied, " At first it is knee-deep ; as you go on it is waist-
deep ; further on it is up to the neck ; and beyond that
it is over the head." The King was satisfied.

He next asked, " How many stars are there ? " " Twenty
lakshas (two millions)," said the monk. " If you do not
believe it, count them." With this answer, also, the King
was satisfied.

He then inquired, " Where is the centre of the earth ? "
The monk took a staff which he had brought with him,
and fixed it upright in the ground. " Here is the centre,"
he said. " Measure each way from it, and you will find
the distance the sanie." The King was satisfied with
this answer also.

" Lastly, you must tell me what I am thinking," the
King said. The monk rephed, " You think I am the
Sangha-raja, but I am only one of his monks." So the
four questions were all answered satisfactorily,

I heard the following version in Cairo : —

A certain King said to his Chief Minister, " Find me a
man who can measure the world and show me the centre
of it, and who can count me the number of the stars."

The Minister considered the matter carefully, but could
think of no way of complying with the King's orders. At
last his wife said, " I can see that something is troubling
you. Tell me what it is ; perhaps I can assist you." Then
he told her the orders of the King, and that he did not
know where to look for any one who could do what the
King desired. " Go," she said, " to the coffee-dealer's
shop. You will find there a man who is always taking

THE THREE QUESTIONS 155

hashish. He may be able to help you " [his mental powers
being exalted by the drug].

So he went to the coffee-dealer's, and told the hashish-
eater his difficulty. " I can soon solve these questions
for you," replied the hashish-eater. " Take me to the
King."

Thereupon they proceeded to the palace, and the Minister
introduced the hashish-eater to the King. He came with
a donkey, which was drawing a great load of rope.

" First show me the centre of the world," said the King.

" This place is the centre," said the hashish-eater. " If
you doubt it, send your men to drag the other end of this
rope up to the sky, and I will prove to you that you are
just in the middle."

" Very well," said the King, " that is a satisfactory answer.
Now give me the number of the stars."

" Let your people count the hairs on my donkey. You
will find that they are exactly equal to the stars in number,"
said the man. The King admitted that he could not
prove that he was answered incorrectly.

The English version is given in the ballad termed " King John
and the Abbot of Canterbury," and is found in Bishop Percy's
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (ed. 1844, ii, 328). I give some
extracts, etc., for the benefit of readers in Ceylon, because of its
resemblance to the second Sinhalese story.

With a view to seizing the Abbot's wealth, the King put three
questions to him, the penalty for failing to answer them being be-
heading. The Abbot received three weeks' grace in which to dis-
cover the replies, but the wisest doctors could not assist him :

Away rode the Abbot all sad at that word ;
And he rode to Cambridge and Oxenforde ;
But never a doctor there was so wise.
That could with his learning an answer devise.

However, as in the Kandian version, the shepherd came to his
assistance, and took his place on the appointed day, robed as the
Abbot, whose features resembled his, and accompanied by the usual
train of servants and monks.

Now welcome, sire abbot, the king he did say,
'Tis well thou'rt come back to keepe thy day;
For and if thou canst answer my questions three,
Thy life andthy living both saved shall bee.

156 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

And first, when thou seest me here in this stead.
With my crown of golde so fair on my head.
Among all my liege-men so noble of birthe.
Tell me to one penny what I am worth.

" For thirty pence our Saviour was sold

Amonge the false J ewes, as I have bin told ;

And twenty-nine is the worth of thee,

For I thinke, thou are one penny worser than hee."

The king he laughed, and swore by St. Bittel,
I did not think I had been worth so littel !
— ^Now secondly tell me, without any doubt.
How soone I may ride this whole world about.

" Yon must rise with the sun, and ride with the same.
Until the next morning he riseth againe ;
And then your grace need not make any doubt,
But in twenty-four hours you'll ride it about."

The king he laughed, and swore by St. J one,

I did not think, it could be gone so soone !

— Now from the third question thou must not shrinke.

But tell me here truly what I do thinke.

" Yea, that shall I do, and make your grace merry :
You thinke I'm the abbot of Canterbury ;
But I'm his poor shepheard, as plain you may see.
That am come to beg pardon for him and for mee."

The king he laughed, and swore by -the masse,
lie make thee lord abbot this day in his place !
" Now naye, my liege, be not in such speede.
For alacke I can neither write, ne reade."

Four nobles a weeke, then, I will give thee.
For this merry jest thou hast showne unto mee ;
And tell the old abbot when thou comest home.
Thou hast brought him a pardon from good king John.

No. 19
The Faithless Princess

IN a certain country there is a Prince, it is said. The
Prince, saying that women are faithless, does not
marry.

The God Sakra having ascertained this, came in the
appearance of a man, and asked at the hand of the Prince
whether if he created a Princess out of his own very body,
and gave her to him, he would be willing to take her in
marriage. The Prince said, " It is good."

Afterwards the God Sakra created a Princess from the
Prince's body, and gave her to him.
S When the Prince and Princess, having got married,
had been living together for a very long time, the Princess
associated with a Nagaya.^ When they had been thus
for a long time, the Princess and the Nagaya spoke together
as to how to kill the Princess's Prince. Then the Nagaya
said, " Ask at the hand of the Prince where the Prince's
death is. After you have got to know the place where
his death is, I will bite ^ him there."

After that, the Princess asked at the hand of the Prince,
" Where is your death ? " The Prince did not tell her.
Every day the Princess was asking it. On a certain day
the Prince said, " To-day my death is in my thumb."

Then the Princess told the Nagaya, " He said that his
death is in his thumb."

So the Nagaya went [in his snake form, as a. cobra],
and stopped on the path on which the Prince was going
for his bath, in order to bite^ him.

1 A supernatural being who could take at will either a human
form or the shape of a cobra {nay a or naga).

" Dohta karanawa = Dashta h., to give a poisonous bite.

158 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Afterwards, the Prince's people went first ; the Prince
went in the middle. Then the people who went first saw
the Nagaya, and killed it..

Afterwards, the people and the Prince having returned
from bathing, the Prince told at the hand of the Princess,
"As we were going to bathe to-day a cobra was on the
path ; my people killed it." The Princess, clasping her
hands with grief, asked, " Where was it ? " The Prince
told her of the place where the cobra was staying, and
she knew that it was the Nagaya.

Afterwards the Princess having given gold to the gold-
smith, and having got a waist-chain made, told him to make
a case for it. The goldsmith made it, and gave it. Then
the Princess went to the place where the cobra was, and
cut off its hood ; and placing the cobra in 'the case of the
golden waist-chain, the Princess put it. round her waist.

Having it there, when they had eaten and drunk in the
evening, and lighted the lamp in the house, both of them
went into the house.

Then the Princess said to the Prince, " I will ask you a
riddle. Should you be unable to explain it, I will kill you.
Should you explain it, you shall kill me."

The Prince said "Ha," and both of them swore it. .

The Princess saying.

The Naga belt Naga patiya

(Is) the golden waist-chain. Ran hawadiya.

Explain (it), friend. Tora, sakiya.

told the Prince to solve it. For fifteen paeyas (six hours),
without extinguishing the lamp, he tried and tried to explain
it. He could not. So she was to kill the Prince next day.

A Devatawa (godling) who drank the smoke of the
lamp of that house, was there looking on [invisibly] until
the lamp was extinguished. After the lamp was put out,
having drunk a little smoke, he took a little that was only
slightly burnt with him for his wife. The Devatawa and
Deyatawi lived in an Ironwood tree on the roadside.

This Prince's elder sister, and the man to whom she was
given in marriage, having set off to come to the Prince's

THE FAITHLESS PRINCESS 159

city, stayed that night at the resting-place under the
Ironwood tree.

Then that Devatawa having brought a little of the under-
burnt smoke of the lamp, after he had given it to the
Devatawi she quarrelled with him until fifteen paeyas
(six hours) had gone, saying, " Where have you been ? "
The Devatawa said, " Do not quarrel. In such and such
a city, such and such a Prince's Princess having associated
with a Nagaya, the Prince's people killed the Nagaya.
Having cut off the Nagaya's hood, and laid aside her golden
waist-chain, putting it round her waist in order to kill
the Prince, because of her anger at the killing of the Nagaya,
the Princess told a riddle to the Prince. Having sworn that
should the Prince be unable to solve it she is to kill the
Prince : should he solve it he is to kill the Princess, the
Princess said.

The Naga belt

Is the golden waist-chain.

Explain it, friend.

" From the evening, without extinguishing the lamp,
he tried to solve it. The Prince could not explain it. After
fifteen paeyas had gone by, he put out the light. Up to
the very time when he extinguished the lamp, so long I
remained there. She said that she will kill the Prince
to-morrow."

Hearing it, there stayed below the Ironwood tree the
Prince's elder sister, and the man to whom she was given.
After having heard it, as it became light, when they were
coming along to the Prince's house, they saw from afar
that they were going to behead the Prince. The elder
sister said from afar, " A ! Don't behead him. I will
solve that riddle."

Having come near, the Prince's elder sister explained
the riddle in the manner stated by the Devatawa. So
the Prince was saved, and they beheaded the Princess.

North-western Province,

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 227, a Fakir
Split a King, and made a wife for him from half his body, but warned
him that she would be unfaithful. She fell in love with one of his
wazirs, but they were detected, and she was killed.

No. 20

The Prince who did not go to School

IN a certain country there is a King, it is said, and there
are two Princes of the King. The two Princes are sent
to school, and as they are going from the palace the two go
along together. After they have walked a little way, the
younger brother goes along the path to the school, and
having arrived at the school, learns his letters and returns
home. The elder brother, after pla37ing and playing in the -
water of the river, puts the school aside, it is said ; and
having come round that way and joined the younger brother,
again comes to the palace with him.

After many days had gone by in that manner, the King
one day told the two Princes, " To-day I must look at your
lessons."

The younger brother said, " Father-King, I indeed go
to the school, and having said my lessons return. Elder
brother and I having met here, and set off together, after
we have gone part of the way, where elder brother goes I
do not know. Having gone somewhere or other, when I
have left the school and am returning, elder brother meets
me on the road, and we two come again to the palace. I
can say my lessons ; elder brother indeed cannot."

After that, the King looked into the lessons of the two
Princes. When he looked, the younger Prince's lessons were
good. When he asked the elder Prince, he^ knew nothing.
So the King settled to behead the elder Prince.

The King had, besides, a Prince older than that Prince.
He said to that elder Prince, " Behead this one."

Then the Prince having taken a sword to the chena

THE PRINCE WHO DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL i6i

jvmgle, and killed a " Blood-sucker " lizard (Calotes sp.),
returned after rubbing the blood on the sword, and showed
it to the King. " Behold ! Father-King, I cut younger
brother," he said. Afterwards their mother having cooked
a bundle of rice, and given it, and also a sword, to the Prince
who was ordered to be beheaded, said, " Go to any place
you like."

As the Prince was going away taking the bundle of cooked
rice and the sword, he met with a man. The man having
uprooted Palmira trees and Coconut trees, was taking them
away and tying a fence. Having seen this, the Prince said
to that man, " Come thou and go with me."

The man having said " Ha," as the two persons were going
along together, another man was cutting the earthen ridges
in a rice field. The blade of the man's digging hoe was as
large as a liyadda (one of the squares into which the rice
field was divided). Having seen that, the Prince said to
that man who was cutting the ridge in the field, " Come thou
and go with me."

The man having said " Ha, " and laid down his digging
hoe at that very place, came away with those two persons.
As the three were going along together, they saw yet a man
ploughing. Having seen that the man ploughed a liyadda
at one ploughing (furrow), the Prince said, " Come thou
and go with me." The man said " Ha," and laying down
his plough at that very place, went with the three persons.
The three persons whom the Prince had met with on the
way were three giants.

The four persons having gone on and on, went near the
house of a Rakshasi at a city. Sitting down there, the
Prince said to one of the giants, " There ! Go to that house
and bring thou cooking pots and fire." So that giant went
to the house of the Rakshasi.

As he arrived there, the Rakshasi was pouring water
over (i.e. bathing) a child. The giant went near the
Rakshasi, and said, " Ane ! Give me fire and cooking
pots." The Rakshasi told him the way to the house in
which she ate human flesh, and said, " There ! They are in
that house ; take them." After that, at the time when the

M

i62 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

giant was going into the house, the Rakshasi went running
and shut the door, so that the giant could not come out.

Those two giants and the Prince remained a long time
looking out ; the giant did not come. Afterwards the Prince
again told a giant to go. The giant having gone, asked the
Rakshasi, " Didn't a man come here ? "

The Rakshasi said, " He did not come here."

Then the giant said, " If so, give me cooking pots and
fire." Then the Rakshasi, in the same manner in which she
told that giant, showed him the way to the house in which
she ate human flesh. As the giant was going into the house,
the Rakshasi, having gone running, shut the door.

That Prince and the third giant having been there a long
time, neither of the giants came. Afterwards the Prince
told the other giant to go. The giant went, and asked the
Rakshasi, " Didn't two men come here ? "

The Rakshasi said, " They did not come here."

So" the giant said, " If so, give me cooking pots and fire."
The Rakshasi, in that very way having told him the path
to the house in which she ate human flesh, at the time when
the giant was going into it shut the door.

The Prince remained 'looking out for a long time; the
three giants did not come. Afterwards the Prince, taking
his sword, came near the Rakshasi, and asked, " Didn't three
men come here ? "

The Rakshasi said, " They did not come here."

Then the Prince, seizing the Rakshasl's hair knot, prepared
to chop at her with the sword. " Give me quickly my three
men ; if not, I shall chop thy head off," he said.

Then the Rakshasi, saying, " Ane ! Do not kill me. At
any place where you want it I will Assist you," gave him
the three men.

After that, the Prince and the three giants having gone
away without killing the Rakshasi, the Prince caused the
three giants to stay at a city ; and having given into their
hands a Blue-lotus flower, said, " Should I not be alive, this
Blue-lotus flower will fade, and the lime trees at your house
will die." So saying, the Prince, taking his sword, went
quite alone.

THE PRINCE WHO DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL 163

After going a long way he came to a city, and having
gone to the house of a Rakshasa, when he looked, the
Rakshasa had gone for human flesh as food and only a girl
was there. The Prince asked the girl for a resting-place.

The girl said, " Ane ! What have you come here for ? A
Rakshasa lives at this house. The Rakshasa having eaten
the men of this city they are now finished."

The Prince said, " I will kill him. Are there dried coco-
nuts and meneri ^ here ? " The girl said there were. The
Prince told her to bring them, and the girl brought them.

Then the Prince asked, " How does he come to eat men ? "

The girl said, " Having come twelve miles — (three gaw-
was) — away, he cries, ' Hu ' ; having come eight miles away,
he cries, ' Hu ' ; and having come four miles away, he cries,
' Hu ' ; and then he comes to this house."

After that, the Prince having spread out, from the stile at
the fence, the meneri seed and the dried coconuts, over the
whole of the open ground near the front of the house, went
to sleep in the veranda, placing the sword near him, and
laying his head on the waist pocket of the girl.

Then the Rakshasa, when twelve miles away, cried, " Hu."
Tears fell from the girl's eyes, and dropped on the Prince's
head. The Prince arose, and said to the girl, " What are you
weeping for ? "

Then the Rakshasa cried, " Hii," eight miles away. The
girl said, " There ! The Rakshasa cried, ' Hu,' eight miles
away." Continuing to say, " He will cry, ' Hii,' the next
time, and then come here," the girl wept.

The Prince, having told the girl not to weep, took the
sword in his hand, and while he was there the Rakshasa, cry-
ing " HS," came into the open space near the house.

Then the Prince chopped at the Rakshasa with his sword,
and the Rakshasa went backward. Thereupon the Prince
said, " Will not even the Rakshasi whom I set free that day
without killing her, render assistance in this ? "

The Rakshasi came immediately, and struck a thorn into
the crown of the Rakshasa 's head, and at that very instant

' Panicum sp., probably miliara, an edible grass seed.

i64 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

the Rakshasa died. After that, the Prince buried the body,
and marrying the girl remained there.

When he had been there a long tjme, a widow-mother came
and said to the Prince and the girl, " Children, I will come
and live with you, as you are alone." Both of them said
" Ha," so the woman stayed there.

After she had lived there a long time, the woman said to
the girl, " Daughter, ask in what place is the life of the
Prince." /

Afterwards the girl said to the Prince, " Mother is asking
where your life is."

The Prince said, " My life is in my neck."

The girl told the woman, " I asked him ; he said his life
is in his neck."

The woman said, " It is not in the neck. He is speaking
falsely. Ask again." So the girl asked again.

The Prince said, " My life is in my breast."

The girl told the woman, " He said it is in his breast."

The woman said, " It is not in the breast. Tell him to
speak the truth."

Afterwards she said again to the Prince, " Mother says it
is not in your breast. She said that you are to speak the
truth."

Then the Prince said, " My life is in my sword."

So the girl told the widow-mother, " He said it is in his
sword."

When a long time had gone by, one day the Prince, laying
down the sword, went to sleep. After the Prince had gone
to sleep, the widow woman and that girl having quietly taken
the sword, put it in the fire on the hearth. Then as the
sword burnt and burnt away the Prince died.

After that, the widow woman took the girl, and gave her
to the King, and the woman also stayed at the palace.

Then the Blue-lotus flower which the Prince gave to those
three giants on going away, faded, and the lime trees died.
When the giants saw this they said, " Ade ! Our elder
brother will have died," and having spoken together, the
three giants came to seek the Prince.

Having come there, and asked the men of the city at which

THE PRINCE WHO DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL 165

the Prince stayed, regarding him, they went to the hduse in
which he Uved, and searched for him. As they were digging
in a heap of rubbish, they found that a little bit of the end of
the sword was there, and they took it. Afterwards the giants
placed it on a bed, and after they had tended it carefully,
the sword little by little became larger. When the sword
became completely restored, the Prince was created afresh.

Afterwards, when the Prince looked to see if the girl
whom he had taken in marriage was there, neither the girl
nor the widow-mother was there. Then the Prince went
with the three giants to the King's palace, and on looking
there they learnt that the girl was married to the King, and
that the widow woman also was there. So the Prince said
to the widow woman, " Quickly give me the Princess whom
I married."

The woman said, " Ane ! The Princess whom I knew is
not here. She did not come with me."

Then the Prince cut off the woman's head with his sword,
and having gone to the King, asked, " Where is my Prin-
cess. You must give her to me."

The King said, " No Princess will be here."

Thereupon the Prince cut off the King's head with his
sword ; and he and the three giants having cut down all the
servants who were in the palace, summoning the Princess,
remained in that very palace.

North-western Province.

The giving a plant or flower as a life index, wliich fades when
illness or danger besets the giver, and dies at his death, is a very
common incident in folk- tales.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 52 — Tales of the
Punjab (Steel), p. 47 — it was a barley plant.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. i8g, a Prince planted a tree as
his life index, and said, " When you see the tree green and fresh
then you know that it is well with me ; when you see the tree fade
in some parts, then you know that I am in an ill case ; and when
you see the whole tree fade, then know that I am dead and gone."

In Tots. Kahani (Small), p. 43, when a man was about to leave
his wife, she gave him a nosegay of flowers which would retain their
freshness if she were faithful to him, and fade if she misconducted
herself.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xvii, p. 54, a plant was given to

i66 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

each of two persons, as a Prince's life index. He said, " If this
plant should fade, know that I am sick or in danger ; if it should
die know that I also am dead."

The notion that a person's life may be concealed in some external
object, usually a bird or a bee, is one of the commonest features of
folk- tales.

In the story numbered 24 in this volume, the King's life was in
a golden parrot.

In Wide-Awake Stories, p. 59 — Tales of the Punjab, p. 52 — a
Jinni's life was in a bee, which was in a golden cage inside the crop
(?) of a Maina [bird].

At pp. 62, 63, Tales of the Punjab, p. 55, a Prince's life was in his
sword. When this was placed in the fire he felt a burning fever,
and when it was made red-hot and a rivet came out of the hilt, his
head came off. Afterwards, when the sword was repaired and re-
polished, the Prince was restored to life.

At p. 83, Tales of the Punjab, p. 75, the life of a Princess was in
a nine-lakh necklace, which was in a box inside a bee that hved in
the body of a fish. When asked about it, she first said that her life
was in each of the seven sons of the wicked Queen who wanted to
kill her, all of whom were murdered by the Queen.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 49, the lives of
Rakshasas were in seven cocks, a spinning-wheel, a pigeon, and a
starling.

At p. 134, the life of one was in a veranda pillar at his house ;
when it was broken he died.

At p. 383, the life of one was in a queen-bee in a honey-comb hang-
ing on a tree.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), pp. 2 and 6, the life of a Prince
was in a golden necklace deposited in a wooden box which was in
the heart of a fish.

At pp. 85 and 86, the lives of seven hundred Rakshasas were in
two bees which were on the top of a crystal pillar, deep in the water
of a tank. If a drop of their blood fell on the ground, a thousand
Rakshasas would start up from it.

At p. 121, the life of a Rakshasi was in a bird that was in a cage.
As its limbs were torn off, a corresponding limb dropped off the
Rakshasi who had been made the Queen.

At p. 233, the lives of two Rakshasas (m. and f.) were in two bees
that were in a wooden box at the bottom of a tajik. If a person
who killed them allowed a drop of their blood to fall on the ground,
he would be torn into seven hundred pieces by the Rakshasas.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. i, p. 86, in a Dardu legend (G. W.
Leitner), the life of a King of Gilgit was in snow, and he could only
die by fire.

At p. 117, in a Bengal story (G. H. Damant), the lives of Rak-

THE PRINCE WHO DID NOT GO TO SCHOOL 167

shasas were in two bees in a gourd which, was inside a crystal pillar
at the bottom of a tank. If one drop of the bees' blood fell on the
ground, the Rakshasas would be twice as numerous as before. The
bees were killed by being squeezed to death.

At p. 171, in a Bengal story (G. H. Damant), the lives of Rak-
shasas were in a lemon, and a bird. When the lemon was cut in
Bengal, the Rakshasas in Ceylon died. As the bird's wings were
broken, the Rakshasi Queen's arms were broken ; when the bird
died, she died.

In vol. xvi, p. igr, the life of a giant was in a parrot; when it
was killed he died.

In vol. xvii, p. 51, a Prince's life was in a sword ; if it rusted he
was sick, and if it broke he died.

In Folk-Tales of Hindustan, Allahabad (Shaik Chilli), p. 51, the
life of a Prince was in the biightness of his sword. When it was
placed in a furnace and lost the brightness, he died. A giant who
was his friend found it, and discovering that a little brightness re-
mained at the tip, rubbed it until it regained its lustre, on which
the Prince revived.

At p. 114, the lives of Rakshasas were in a number of birds ; they
died when these were killed.

In a tale of the interior of W. Africa in Conies Soudanais (C. Mon-
teil), p. 154, the life of a King was in a little box inside a small goat-
skin, which was in a little pot placed inside a large pot. When the
King was told this he died.

Doubtless this strange notion of a life safeguarded by being hidden
away, is of early date, and may be due originally to the early magi-
cal idea prevalent in Egypt, Assyria, and India, that a person might
be killed from any distance by piercing the heart of a figurine formed
to represent him. This action is mentioned in the Commentary
on the Atharva Veda (Bloomfield's translation, p. 359) ; and in the
Rigveda.i, 29, 7 (Griffith's translation), prayer is made to Indra for
the destruction of " htm who in secret injures us."

In the Jataka story No. 208 (vol. ii, p. in), a monkey escaped
from a crocodile that was going to kill it in order to get its heart.
by telling it that monkeys kept their hearts hanging on trees.

In the Maha Bharata, Va.Tidi.Va,rv3., 135, 52, a 'gishi caused buffaloes
to shatter a mountain, and thereby killed a child whose life was
dependent on its existence, if not supposed to be actually in it.

The recovery of the three giants from the house of the Rakshasi
is evidently based on the story of Wijaya, the first King of Ceylon,
and KuwSni, a female Yakkha or aboriginal Princess, who, taking
the form of a devotee, had captured his followers one by one, and
imprisoned them.

The story is given in the MahSvansa, chapter vii, as follows : —
' All these persons not returning, Wijaya becoming alarmed, equip-

168 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

ping himself with the five weapons of war, proceeded after them ;
and examining the delightful pond [to which they had gone to
bathe], he could perceive footsteps leading down only into the tank ;
and he there saw the devotee. It occurred to him : ' My retinue
must 'Surely have been seized by her.' 'Woman, hast thou seen
my attendants ? ' said he. ' Prince,' she repUed, ' what need
hast thou of attendants ? Do drink and bathe ere thou departest.'
Saying to himself, ' Even my lineage, this Yakkhini is acquainted
with it,' proclaiming his title, and quickly seizing his bow, he rushed
at her. Securing the Yakkhini by the throat with a ' naracana '
ring, with his left hand seizing her by the hair, and raising his sword
with his right hand, he exclaimed, ' Slave ! restore me my followers,
or 1 will put thee to death.' The Yakkhini, terrified, implored
that her Ufe might be spared. ' Lord ! spare my Ufe ; on thee I
will confer this sovereignty ; unto thee I will render the favours of
my sex, and every other service according to thy desire.' In order
that she might not prove herself treacherous, he made the Yakkhini
take an oath. While he was in the act of saying, ' Instantly produce
my followers,' she brought them forth" (Mahavansa, i, p. 32).

The idea of the thorn which was driven into the head of the Rak-
shasa, is borrowed from magical practice. In the case of a figurine
made for the destruction or injury of a person, pins or nails or thorns
were run into various parts of the body, one being inserted in the
crown of the head. In a variant of the story numbered 73 in this
work, a female Yaka was kept in subjection by means of an iron
nail that was driven into the crown of the headi

In Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes), p. 12, a pin was fixed in the head
of a woman who had been transformed into a bird. When it was
drawn out she resumed her human form.

In The Illustrated Guide to the South Indian Railway, 1900, p. 232,
it is stated regarding the great stone Bull, 12 feet high, at the Tan-
jore temple, that " it was popularly supposed by the natives that
this bull was growing, and as they feared it might become too large
for the mandapam [stone canopy] erected over it a nail was driven
into the back of its head, and since this was done the size of the
monolith has remained stationary." -

No. 21

Nagul-Munna

IN a village there were two persons called Nagul-Munna
and Mun-aeta Guruwa. While those two were living
there they spoke together, " Friend, while we two are remain-
ing in this way matters are not going on properly." At the
time when they spoke thus, Mun-aeta Guruwa replied to
Nagul-Munna's talk, and said, " It is good, friend. If that
be so let us two cut a chena."

Having spoken thus, the two persons went to the chena
jungle, and there being no watch-hut there, built one ;
and taking supplies week by week, began to chop down the
bushes while they were living at the house in the jungle.
Having chopped down the jungle, and burnt it, and sown the
chena, the millet plants grew to a very large size.

When the two persons were at the watch-hut they re-
mained talking one night for a long time, and said, " To-
morrow we must go to the village to bring back supplies."
After talking thus, they went to sleep, both of them.

During the time while they were sleeping, Mun-aeta
Guruwa's clothes caught fire. Then Nagul-Munna awoke,
and jumped down to the ground, and ran away. Mun-aeta
Guruwa was burnt in the shed and died. On account of his
being killed, through fear of being charged with causing his
death, Nagul-Munna bounded off into the jungle, and did
not return to the village.

That day the relatives of those people who were in the
village, thinking, " Nagul-Munna and Mun-aeta Guruwa
will be coming to fetch supplies," getting ready the supplies,
stayed looking for them. On that day the two persons did

170 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

not come ; because they did not come two men went from
the village to look for them.

The two having gone and looked, and seen that the watch-
hut had been burnt, spoke together concerning it : " Both
these men have been burnt and died. Let us go back to the
village." So they returned.

Nagul-Munna, who sprang into the jungle that night,
having come home during the night of the following day,
spoke to his wife, who was in the house. The woman, think-
ing that he had died, was frightened at his speech, and cried
out, " Nagul-Munna has been born as a Yaka, and having
come here is doing something to me." At that cry the men
of the village came running ; when they looked he was not
there, having run off through fear of being seized.

In that manner he came on two days. The woman, being
afraid, did not open the door. On the third day he arose,
and hid himself at the tank near the village. While he was
there, a tom-tom beater having gone to a devil-dance,*
came bringing a bit of cooked rice, and a box containing his
mask and decorations.*

As he was coming along bringing them, this Nagul-
Munna having seen him, went and beat the tom-tom
beater, and taking the bit of cooked rice and the box of
devil-dancer's things, bounded into the jungle. Having
sprung into the jungle, and eaten the bit of rice, he unfastened
the box of devil-dancer's goods, and taking the things in it,
dressed himself in them, putting the jingling bracelets * on
his arms and the jingling anklets * on his legs.

There was a large mask in it. Taking it, and tying it on
his face, he went to the village when it became night, and
having gone to a house there, broke the neck of a calf that
was tied near it, and sprang into the rice-field near by.
Having made a noise by shaking the jingling bracelets, and
given three cries, " Hu, Hu, Hu," he shouted, " If you do
not give a leaf-cup of rice and a yoimg coconut at dawn,
and at night a leaf-cup of rice and a yoxmg coconut, I will
kill all the cattle and men that are in your village, and having
drunk their blood, go away."

' Kankariya. ' Wes. ^ Gigiri walalu. * Silambu.

NAGUL-MUNNA 171

The men of the village becoming afraid on account of it,
began to give rice every day in the way he said. Having
given it for about four or five years in this manner, the men
spoke together, " Let us fetch a sooth-sayer to seize that
Yaka." After having said concerning it, " It is good," they
fetched a doctor [Veda).

When the doctor went to the tank to catch that Yaka,
Nagul-Munna came, and seizing that doctor, cut his bathing
cloth, and having taken him to the place where he was stay-
ing, killed him, and trampled on his bathing cloth. Through
the seizing and killing of the doctor, the men of the village
became afraid to a still greater degree.

After that, having talked about bringing another sooth-
sayer they fetched one. In the same manner, when he went
to the tank the Yaka killed the sooth-sayer. At that deed
the men of the village became more afraid still.

Having fetched a Sannyasi (a Hindu religious mendicant)
from Jaffna, they went to him, and told him to seize the
Yaka. That man said, " It is good " ; and having gone to
the aforesaid tank to look for him, the Yaka was in a tree.
So the sooth-sayer repeated incantations to cause the Yaka to
descend. The Yaka did not descend.

After that, because he did not descend, that person got to
know that he was a man, and on his calling " Hu," to the
men of the village the men came. Afterwards, seizing Nagul-
Munna, who was in the tree, they went to the village.

Because Mun-aeta Guruwa had died, the relatives of Mun-
aeta Guruwa came for their [legal] action against him.

Sa5dng that he had cheated them, and eaten food wrongly
obtained from them, the men of the village came for their
action.

Because he had stolen the rice and the box with tom-tom
beater's things in it, the tom-tom beater came for his action.

Saying that he killed the first sooth-sayer, his people came
for their action.

The second sooth-sayer's people also in the same way came
for their action,
i For his killing the calf the owner came for his action.

After all who had brought these actions had came to one

172 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

spot, the man, saying, " Because my wife told me to cut the
chena together with Mun-aeta Guruwa, and through my
cutting the chena with him, this happened," killed his own
wife.

Then, while he was going for his trial a bear bit that man
on the way, and he died.

North-western Province.

In The Onentalist, vol. iii, p. 31, there is a nearly similar story of
a tom-tom beater who was supposed to be burnt in his watch hut.
In reality, it was a beggar who was burnt. The man being afraid
of being charged with murdering him, got hid in the jungle. He
came to his, house at night, but was supposed to be the Mala upan
Yaka, " the evil spirit bom from the dead," and was refused ad-
mittance by his wife, who gave an alarm. As men were coming on
hearing it, he ran off. On another night when he came, his wife
assailed him with a volley of invectives, as demon-scarers ; so
carrying off his dancing paraphernalia, he again retired, and after-
wards robbed travellers, and frightened the people till they threat-
ened to leave the district. The King offered a handsome reward
for his apprehension, but he tied up a Kattadiya or devil priest who
came to exorcise him. In the end he was captured by a Buddhist
monk, taken before the King, and after relating his adventures,-
appears to have been allowed to go unpunished.

In the Jataka story No. 257 (vol. ii, p. 209), there is an account
of four actions brought against one man on the same day. It is a
folk-tale in Ceylon also.

No. 22

The Kule-baka Flowers

IN a certain country a King was ruling ; the King was
without children. The King having performed many
meritorious deeds, five children were bom.

When they looked into the Naekata (or prognostics result-
ing from the positions of the planets) at the time when the
children were bom, those of four were good, but that of the
fifth child was that on seeing him his father's two eyes
would become blind. The King told them to take the
Prince and put him down in the forest. So having taken
the Prince they put him in the forest.

After that, animals having come through the favour of
the Prince's guardian deity, gave him milk, and reared him.

After much time had passed, the Prince's father, the King,
went to have the jungle driven (for shooting) ; and having
gone, while they were driving the jungle that Prince came,
and bounded round the King's enclosure. Then, the King
having seen him his eyes became blind, and he went away
without his eyes seeing anything. The people who went
with the King, lifting him up, carried him to the palace.

Having arrived there, various medical treatments were
applied ; he was not cured. After that, he caused sooth-
sayers to be brought, and after he had asked them regarding
it, they said, " By applying medical treatment you will not
meet with a cure. In the midst of the Forest of the Gods
there is a flower called Kule-baka. Having brought that
flower, and burnt it on your eyes, your eyes will see."

Afterwards the King asked the people, " Who is able to
bring this flower ? " All the people said they could not do
it. Then the four eldest Princes of the King, having said,

174 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

" Let us go," asked permission of the King ; the King told
them to go. So the four persons having started, went.

As they were going, the four persons went to a city. A
courtesan stayed in that city ; her name was Diribari-
Laka.^ She gambled (i.e. kept a gambling house). These
fourpersons went to her house, and having gone there pre-
pared to gamble. Then the woman said, " Should you lose
by this game, I shall make you four persons prisoners (that
is, slaves). The four persons having said, " It is good,"
gambled, and all four having lost remained there as prisoners.

The Prince who was in the forest, having got to know all
these matters, also set off to seek the flower, and on his way
arrived at the city at which the Princes who were made
prisoners were staying. This one, having gone to the King of
the city, was appointed to do messenger's work there. While
he was living thus, this one obtained news that the courtesan
was gambling, and thereupon this Prince asked the King for
leave of absence. Having obtained it, he went to the house
of an old woman near the courtesan's house.

Having gone there, this Prince having fallen down near
the feet of that old woman and made obeisance, weeping
and weeping, these words are what he said, " Mother, are
you in the enjoyment of health ? Do not you let your face
be even visible (to) scrofulous offspring. When lightning has
struck you (may it) take your progeny." ^ Having spoken
and spoken with these honours he remained weeping. The
woman's child, not of small age, was there, and having said
similar things to the child also, and while weeping having
paid respect, the woman made that Prince rise, and asked
him, " Where were you for such a long period ? "

" I was with a King," the Prince said. " Mother, whose
is that house ? " he asked.

The woman said, " Why, son ? Do not say anything about
it. That house is the house of a courtesan. There is a

• Learned Brow.

' On account of the strangeness of this speech, I give the Sin-
halese words as they were written : Umba kaburupanj&H jati umhe
muna (sic.) penendawat epa. Umbata hena waediyamin umbe jcUa-
kayo, ganin. It appears to be a Rabelaisian joke, and was considered
such by the person who narrated it.

THE KULE-BAKA FLOWERS 175

gambling game of that woman's, and by it many persons,
having lost, remain as prisoners."

The Prince asked, " Mother, how does one win by that
game ? "

Then the woman said, " A bent lamp haying been lighted,
is placed at the gambling place. Below the lamp a cat is
sitting. While the woman is gambling the cat raises its
head ; then victory falls to the woman. When another
person is playing the cat lowers its head ; then defeat falls
to that man. If you are to win, having extinguished the
bent lamp, and driven away the cat, and larought and placed
there another lamp, if you should then play you can win."

After that, the Prince went to gamble. Having gone
there, when he was ready to gamble she said, " Should you
lose in gambling, you will be condemned to imprisonment ;
should you win you marry me."

The Prince said, "It is good," and gambled. When he
was losing, he extinguished the lamp, and having beaten and
driven away the cat, he told the woman to bring another
lamp. After that, the woman brought a lamp. Having
brought and placed the lamp there, they gambled. The
woman having lost all, the Prince won. Afterwards, that
woman married this Prince.

During the time while he was living there, as this Prince
was starting to go and bring the Kule-baka flower, the woman
said,^' Don't go."

The Prince said, " I did not come for this gambling ; I
came for the Kule-baka flower. I must indeed go, after
having set ofE for this purpose," he said. So the Prince
went to bring the flower. Before this, he had allowed the
imprisoned men to go, and said to the four Princes,
" Stop until I return."

Having thus gone, he entered into the midst of a forest.
While he was there, human-flesh-eating serpents and forest
animals that were in the midst of the forest sprang to devour
this Prince, but he made supplication to his deity, so they
were unable to do it, and went away.

Then the Yaka who was guarding the Kule-baka garden,
having seen the Prince, and having arisen and come near

176 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

the Prince, asked, " Have you, a man born in the world
of men, come into my presence to be a prey to me ? "

The Prince said, " My father the King for a fault said
he must behead me. On account of it, having made my
way into the midst of the forest, I have come to you for
you to eat indeed. If you are going to eat me, eat me ;
if you are going to kpep me, keep me alive."

After that, the Yaka asked, " What do you eat ? "

The Prince said, " We eat wheat flour, ghi, sugar, and
camels' flesh.^ These indeed we eat."

All these requisites having been brought by the Yaka,
after he had given them to the Prince, the Prince made
the food, and gave to the Yaka also.

The Yaka having eaten the food, sprang up into the
air, and said to the Prince, " I never ate a meal like this.
I will do anything you tell me."

Then the Prince said to the Yaka, " Where is the path
to go to the Kule-baka garden ? "

The Yaka sprang up into the air, and fell on the ground,
and beating his head, said, " If you had said so before
this, by this time I should have eaten you. What can I
do now that I have promised to help you ? " Having
said, " Go away from here," he told him about the path.

Then the Prince went along it. There, also, a Yaksani *
(female Yaka) was guarding it, and the Prince came to
her. The Yaksani asked the Prince, " Where are you
going ? "

The Prince said, " Having delayed in the midst of a
forest, as I was returning I was unable to find the country
with my village. Now I have met with you here."

As he appeared good to the Yaksani she caused him
to stay there, and married her daughter to him. The
name of the girl to whom the Prince was married was
Maha-Muda.'

During the time while he was there the Prince remained
angry.

» Otunne malu. This proves that the story is Indian, and per-
haps from the Panjab, there being no camels in Ceylon.
* The usual village spelling. ' Great Happiness.

THE KULE-BAKA FLOWERS 177

The girl asked, " What are you angry for ? "

The Prince said, " I must go to look at the Kule-baka
garden."

Then the girl spoke about this matter to her mother.
So that woman having fetched rats, caused a tunnel to
be made by them to the Kule-baka garden. Along that
tunnel the Prince went to the flower garden, and having
gone there, and plucked the flowers, came back again.

Having returned there, calling Maha-Muda he came to
the house of Diribari-Laka. Having arrived there, he
burnt on the lower part of the back the four Princes who
had remained as prisoners. The Prince who went for the
Kule-baka flowers having burnt in this way the four Princes ,
who stayed as slaves at the house of Diribari-Laka, these
four persons were freed from imprisonment.

Then the Prince, Maha-Muda, and Diribari-Laka, taking
the flowers, came to the Prince's native country. Having
arrived there, he burnt the Kule-baka flowers on the two
eyes of his father the King, and the two eyes of the King
became well.

After that, the King having asked the Prince regarding
these matters, learnt that he was the King's Prince, [and
he and his two wives continued to live there with him].

North-western Province.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 276 fi. — Tales of
the Punjab, p. 263, 264 — a rat assisted King Sarkap in games at
Chaupur (the Pachis game), until it was frightened by a kitten that
Prince Rasalu had rescued from a potter's kiln.

At p. 250 of the former work it was predicted that if his father
saw the Prince during the twelve years after his birth, he (the father)
would die.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (Swynnerton), p. 319,
a rat which had been saved from drowning assisted a girl to defeat
a Princess at Chaupur, by attracting the attention of a cat that
moved the pieces for the Princess. The cat was struck by the girl
while trying to seize the rat which she held ; when it ran ofE she
won.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 149, the cat be-
longing to a female gambler, at a sign from her mistress, extinguished
the lamp whenever the game was going against her.

N

178 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 277, a Princess, in order to get
back her husband, started a gambling establishment at which they
gambled with dice, the stake being one hundred thousand rupees,
together with the imprisonment of the loser at her house. Her
ruse was successful. A rich merchant's son, the Prefect's son, the
Minister's son, and the Prince, aU came in turn and lost.

No. 23

Kurulu-gama Appu, the Sooth-sayer

IN a certain city a man was stricken by a scarcity of
food to eat, and he went to another country. Having
gone there, during the time while he was residing in a
village, the village men asked, " What sooth can you
tell ? " ^ He said, " I can tell one sooth ; to do that
sooth I want Jak-tree gum. Coconut oil, and Euphorbia
milk " (the milky sap which exudes from cuts or bruises
in the bark). Thereupon the men having collected those
things that he mentioned, gave them to him.

Then he went and warmed these things [making bird-
lime] and placed [limed] twigs, and catching birds and
coming with them, he gave them daily, two by two at
each house, and thus ate. The man's name was Appu ;
his village was Kurulu-gama (Birds' village).

While he was continuing to eat in this manner, the men
of that village started to go to Puttalam, carrying produce
for sale. That man also said, " I also must go." Then
the men of the village asked, " You have nothing ; what
will you take ? " Thereupon this one tying up a pingo
load of chaff and coconut husks, goes with the men.

Then the men who were going on that journey, having
come down to the high road, set off to go. While they were
going, the men having said [in fun] " Vedarala" (Doctor)
to that man, he kept the name.

Having gone very far, the Vedarala, telling the men
who went with him to wait on the road, placed his pingo
(garrying-stick) on the road, and went into an open

^ Equivalent to sasdng, " What things do you know ? " Saes-
fara, the noun used, means sooth, knowledge of things, and science.

i8o VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

place in the jungle. While going along in it, when he
looked about, a yoke of cattle were entangled in the bushes.
Then this Vedarala having gone near the yoke of cattle,
looked at the letter marks branded on them, and having
come back and taken up the pingo load, while they were
going on it became night.

This party having halted on the road near a village,
sent the Vedarala to get a resting-place for the night.
Having gone to a house in the village, when he asked for
it the house men said, " What giving of resting-places is
there for us 1 We are lamenting in sorrow for the difficulty
we are in. Our yoke of cattle are missing."

The Vedarala said, " Now then, what have we to do
with your losing a yoke of cattle ? Give us a resting-place."

" If you want one, look there ! There is the shed, come
and stay there," they said.

Then the Vedarala having come back, says to the people
of the party, " There is a shed indeed. Stay if you like ;
go on, if you want to go," he said. So this party having
come to the shed sat down.

The people of the party said to the Vedarala, " Vedarala,
why are you staying looking about ? Night is coming on.
We must seek a little firewood and water," they spoke
together.

The house persons having heard these words, said, " What
is this, that you are sapng ' Vedarala ' ? Does he know
sooth and the like ? " they asked.i

The persons of the party said without a reason for it {nika-
mata), " To a certain extent he can tell matters of sooth."

" If so, don't be delayed on account of anything you
want. We will bring and give you rice, firewood, and
water." So they brought and gave them five quarts of
rice, a dried fish, a head of ash-plantains.

This party, cooking amply, and having eaten, said at
night to the person who owned the house, " Now then,
bring a packet of betel leaves for him to tell you sooth."

1 The title " Vedarala " is applied both to native medical prac-
titioners and to demon expellers, who are also sooth-sayers.

KURULU-GAMA APPU, THE SOOTH-SAYER i8i

So the house person having brought the betel, gave it to
the Vedarala. *

Thereupon the assumed {lit " face ") Vedarala, having
taken the betel, after having looked at it falsely becoming
" possessed," said, " It is a yoke of oxen of yours that
have been lost, isn't it ? "

Then the house person said, " You have said the sooth
very correctly. I asked it of the deities of many dewalas
(demon-temples), and of sooth-sayers. There wasn't a
person who told me even a sign of it."

Thereafter the Vedarala asked, " What will you give me
for seeking and giving you the yoke of cattle ? "

That person said, " Even if you can't give the full yoke
of cattle, I will give a half share of the value " ; thus he
promised.

The Vedarala having said, "It is good," and told him
to get and bring a torch, cunningly having gone near the
yoke of cattle that remained entangled in the bush at that
place where he went on coming, asked if these were his
oxen. Then the man said, " These are indeed my cattle,"
and having unfastened them and come back, in the morning
gave him a half share i of the value of the cattle. Taking
it, and throwing away the chaff and coconut husks, he
went away.

That day also, having gone on until the time when it
was becoming night, he got a resting-place in the very way
in which, having spoken before, he got one. At the time
when they were in the shed the persons of the party said,
" Vedarala, what are you staying looking about for ?
We must seek and get firewood and water."

Then the house people say, " What are you sa5dng
' Vedarala ' for ? Does he kiiow to say sooth and the
like?"

After that, this party say, " He can also tell sooth. Last
night he sought and gave a yoke of cattle."

Then the house persons quickly having brought rice,
fish, firewood, water, gave them to the men.

This party having amply cooked and eaten, while they

' Twenty rupees, in a variant.

i83 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

were sleeping, the house person, having brought a packet
of betel leaves, spoke to the Vedarala : " How am I to
ask sooth ? "

The Vedarala rebuked him. " All these persons being
now without memory or understanding, what saying of
sooth is there ? " i Then that one having gone, he went
to sleep.

A woman of the house was there ; her iiame was Sihibuddi.
The woman having heard the words which the Vedarala
said, came and having softly awakened the Vedarala,
said, " The Sihibuddi you mention is I indeed. It was I
indeed who stole this house person's packet of waragan.'
I will give you a share ; don't mention it."

Thereupon the Vedarala says, " Where is it ? Bring
it quickly, and having brought it place it near that clump
of plantains."

Then this woman having brought the packet of waragan,
and placed it at the foot of the plantain clump and gone
away, he went to sleep.

Afterwards the Vedarala called the house person. " Now
then, bring betel for me to say sooth." The man having
brought betel gave it to the Vedarala.

Then the Vedarala, having taken the betel and looked
at it, said, " It is a packet of waragan that has been lost,
isn't it."

That man said, " It is that indeed. Should you seek and
give what has been lost of mine, I will give you a half
share."

Then the Vedarala having told him to get a light, becoming
" possessed," went and took and gave him the packet of
waragan that was at the foot of the plantain clump.

Having taken from it a half share, at the time when
the party were going on, thieves having broken into the

> Sihi buddi naetuwata mona saestara kiyamanada ? This might
also be interpreted, " On account of the absence of Sihibuddi what
saying of sooth is there ? " The long final i of female names is
usually shortened in conversation.

2 A South Indian gold coin, with the figure of a boar, Varaha,
on the obverse, said by Winslow to be worth three and a half rupees.

KURULU-GAMA APPU, THE SOOTH-SAYER 183

box at the foot of the King's bed,^ he made public by
beat of tom-toms that many offices would be given by
the King to a person who should seek and give it to him.

At that time this party said, " In our party indeed,
there is a sooth-sayer. On the night of the day before
yesterday he sought out and gave a yoke of cattle. Yester-
night he sought out and gave a packet of waragan." There-
upon the persons took this Vedarala near the King. Then
the King asks, " Can he catch and give the thief who broke
into the box at the foot of my bed ? " The party said
that he could.

Then the sooth-sayer, having become afraid, thought,
" I will tie a cord to my neck and die." So he said, " After
tying white cloths in a house (as a decoration, on the
walls and under the roof), and a piece of cord to the cross-
beam, and placing a bed, chairs, and table in it, and setting
on end a rice mortar, you must give me it in the evening."
The King having prepared them in that very way, gave
him them.

Afterwards, the Vedarala, after it became night, having
gone inside the house, told them to shut the door from
the outside, and lock it. Then having mounted on the
rice mortar, when he tried to put the cord round his neck
it was too short. On account of it he said, " Both the
cord is too short and the height is insufficient. What
shall I do ? " a

As the Vedarala was saying this word Kumandaeyi, a
citizen, Kumanda, an old thief, was there [listening outside].
Having heard this, he thought, "He is calling out my
name " ; so becoming afraid he came near and spoke to
the Vedarala, and said, " It is I indeed whom you call
Kumanda. It is I indeed who committed the theft. Don't
say anything about it to the King."

* " A box in which the most valuable ornaments of the most
frequent use are kept, and which for the sake of safety is always
placed at the foot of the bed " {The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 59, footnote).

* Kumanditeyi mama karanne, which if not very clearly heard
might be translated, "It is Kumanda ; I am doing it," or "I will
do it."

1 84 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Then the Vedarala said, " If so, bring the things and
put them in this house."

Thereupon the old thief, having brought to the house
all the things taken out of the box which was at the foot
of the King's bed, gave them to the sooth-sayer through
the window.

Then the Vedarala slept until light having come it became
daylight.

Afterwards, the King having sent messengers in the
morning, they awoke the Vedarala. Then the Vedarala,
thinking it unseasonable, said, " Who is talking to me
without allowing me to sleep ? " and silently went to
sleep again. So the messengers returned-and told the King.

Afterwards the King came and spoke to him, and opened
the door. The Vedarala having come out, said, " O Lord,
Your Majesty, I was unable to seize the thieves ; the things
indeed I met with."

Then the King said, " The thief does not matter ; after
you have met'' with the things it is enough."

Then the King, catching a great many fire-flies and
putting them in a coconut shell, asked the Vedarala, " What
is there in this ? "

The sooth-sayer, becoming afraid, went as far as he could
see him, and thinking, " I will strike my head against a
tree and die," came running and struck his head against
a tree.i Then the sooth-sayer said, " O Father ! It
was as though a hundred fire-flies flew about."

The King said, " That is true. They are indeed fire-flies
that are in my hand."

After that, the King caught a bird, and clenching it in
his fist, asked the sooth-sayer, " What is there in this
fist ? "

The sooth-sayer, having become afraid, began to beat
his head on a stone. Then he said, " Kurulu-gama Appu's
strength went (this time)." «

* He might do any unusual acts of this sort without exciting
much astonishment, while apparently under the influence of " pos-
session."

* Kurulu gama Appuge rissa giya. This might be translated^
"On the birds' moving, Appu's strength went."

KURULU-GAMA APPU, THE SOOTH-SAYER 185

The King said, " Bola, it is indeed a bird that is in my
hand " ; and having called the Vedarala, and given him
many offices, and a house, told him to stay at that very
city.

Afterwards the Vedarala, thinking, " They will call
me again to tell sooth," having put away the things that
were in the house, and having set fire to the house, said,
" Kurulu-gama Appu's sooth-saying is finished from to-day.
The sooth books have been burnt." Having made it
public he stayed at that very city.

North-western Province.

The second discovery of the sooth-sayer is extracted from a
variant by a washerman, the rest of the story having been written
by a man of the cultivating caste.

In the Katha Sarit Sdgaya (Tawney), vol. i, p. 272, there is an
account of a pretended sooth-sayer, a poverty-stricken Brahmana.
He first hid a horse, and when application was made to him to dis-
cover it, he drew diagrams and described the place where it would
be found. A:^ter that, when a thief stole gold^and jewels from the
King's palace he was sent for and shut up in a room, where he began
to blame his tongue, jivha, which had made a vain pretence at know-
ledge. The principal thief, a maid called Jivha, overheard him,
and told him where she had buried her share of the plunder. After-
words the King tested him by placing a frog in a covered pitcher.
He expected that he would be killed, and said, " This is a fine pitcher
for you. Frog (his father's pet name for himself), since suddenly it
has become the swift destroyer of yourself in this place." He was
thought a great sage, and the King presented him with " villages
with gold, umbrella, and vehicles of all kinds."

There is another story of a pretended sooth-sayer in vol. ii, p. 140,
of the same work, but it does not, like the last, resemble the Sinhalese
tale.

No. 24

How a Prince was chased by a Yaksanf,
and what befel

A PRINCE went for hunting-sport. As he was going,
a Yaksani (female Yaka) who was living in the
midst of the forest, chased him, saying that she was going
to eat the Prince, and drove the Prince down the path.
The Prince having gone running, went bounding through
the middle of a city. The Yaksani followed him in the
disguise of a woman.

The King of the city having seen them, sent the Ministers,
and told them to look what it was about. The Ministers
asked the Yaksani who was bounding behind him, " What
is that for ? "

The Yaksani said, " My husband having quarrelled with
me and left me, is running away. I am running after
hirn because of it."

The Ministers then brought her before the King, and
having seen the beauty of the Yaksani, the King was
pleased with her, and said, " If you should not go with
him it does not matter ; stay here." So the King, having
prepared another house for the Yaksani, and having married
her, establishing her in the office of Chief Queen, she remained
there.

While she was there, this Yaksani having gone like a
thief during the time when all were sleeping, and killed
and eaten the men of the city, brought a few of the bones,
and placed them in a heap at the back of the houses in
which the twelve Queens of the King slept.

When a little time had gone by in this manner, the men

18«

HOW A PRINCE WAS CHASED BY A YAKSANi 187

of the city came to the King, and sajring, " Since you have
brought and are keeping this YaksanI this city is altogether
desolate," made obeisance. Then the King made inquiry
into the matter.

Then that Yaksani said, " Ane ! O Lord, Your Majesty,
I indeed do not know about that, but I did indeed see that
thief who eats human flesh, although I did not tell you."

The King asked, " Who is it ? "

The Yaksani said, " If Your Majesty should look behind
, the houses of the twelve Queens you can ascertain."

When the King went there and looked, he found that
it was true, and gave orders for the twelve Queens to be
killed. Then the Yaksani told him not to kill them, but
to pluck out their eyes, and send them into the midst of
the forest. Having heard the words which the Yaksani
said, he acted in that very manner.

So all this party of Queens went and stayed in one spot,
and there all the twelve bore children. As each one was
born, they divided and ate it. The youngest Queen put
aside all the flesh that was given to her, and while she
was keeping it she, also, bore a son. Then those eleven
Queens made ready to eat that Prince, so that Princess
gave them the flesh which she had kept, and the party
ate it.

As time went on that Prince having grown a little, began
to bring and give them fruits that were lying on the ground.
Then the Prince met with a bow and an arrow that had
been concealed there. After that he began to shoot various
kinds of small animals, and to bring and give them to
the Queens. Afterwards he shot large animals, and having
larought fire and boiled them, he gave the flesh to them.
By this time the Prince understood all things thoroughly.

After that, one day this Prince asked, " Mother, what
is the reason why your eyes have become blind, and my
eyes are well ? "

The party said, " We were the Queens of such and such
a King ; having taken a Yaksani in marriage, this was done
to us through her enmity." Then the Prince remained
thinking of killing the King.

i88 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

One day, as he was going hunting, he met with a Vaedda.
Thinking he would kill the Vaedda, the Prince chased him
along the path. The Vaedda, being afraid, went nmning
away, and having met with the King said, " O Lord, Your
Majesty, there is a very handsome Prince in the midst of
this forest. One cannot say if the Prince is the son of a
deity or a royal Prince. He does not come near enough
to speak. When he sees a man he drives him away, sa3nng
he is going to eat him." He spoke very strongly about
it.

So the Ministers were sent by the King, who told them
to seize and bring him. As the party were going to seize
him, he sprang forward, saying that he was going to eat
them. At that, the party became afraid, and ran away.
Having come running, they told the King, " O Lord, Your
Majesty, we cannot seize him. He comes springing at us
saying he is going to eat us."

Then the King came, bringing his war army. Thereupon
the Prince, who before that was angry with the King in
his mind, threw a stone in order to kill the King, and struck
him. Being struck by the stone, the King's head was
wounded (lit. split), so the King and all of them became
afraid, and ran away.

The King, having returned, wrote letters to foreign
countries : " There is a wicked Prince in the midst of
the forest in my kingdom. Who he is I cannot find out.
Because of it you must come to seize the Prince."

The Prince having got to know of it, and thinking, " It
is not good for me to be killed at the hands of these men ;
having met with the King I will kill him," went to the
royal palace. When he arrived there the King saw him,
and asked, " Who are you ? "

The Prince said, " I am a royal Prince ; I stay in the
midst of this forest."

The King said, " Would it be a bad thing if you remained
at this palace ? "

The Prince asked, " What work would there be for me."

The King said, " Remain and do the work of the First
Minister of the Ministers."

HOW A PRINCE WAS CHASED BY A YAKSANi 189

The Prince asked, " How much pay would there be for
me for the day ? "

The King replied, " I will give fifty masuran."

" Fifty masuran are insufficient for me. Will you give
me every day in the evening a hundred masuran ? " he
asked.

The King said, " It is good," and after that he stayed
there. While remaining there he came twice a day and
assisted his twelve mothers.

When no long time had gone by, some one was heard
crying out iil the night near the city. The King told him
to look who was crying. The Prince having gone, taking
his sword, when he looked, a dead body was hanging in a
tree, and a Yaksani was springing up to eat the dead body.
Being unable to seize it she was crying out.

The Prince went and asked, " What is that for ? "

The Yaksani replied, " My son having gone into the
tree cannot descend; because of it I am crying out."

The Prince said, " Mount on my shoulders and unfasten
him."

The Yaksani having got on his shoulders, as she was
about to eat the Prince he chopped at her with his sword.
A foot was cut off, and she fled. Taking the foot and
returning with it, the Prince showed it to the King. The
King having seen the Prince's resoluteness, in order to
cause him to be killed said that unless he should bring the
other foot he could not take charge of this one.

After that, the Prince went to the palace where the
Yakas dwelt. There this Yaksani whom he had wounded
came, and having made obeisance, fell down and said,
" Lord, do not kill me. I will do anything you tell me."
Summoning her to accompany him and returning, he
showed her to the King.

Afterwards he employed this Yaksani, and caused her
to make a city at the place where his mothers were, and
having made her construct a palace, he told the Yaksani
and his mothers to dwell there.

While they were there the Yaksani said to the Prince,
" I know the place where the King's hfe is. Whatever

igo VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON - 1

you should do to the King himself you cannot kill him."

The Prince asked, " Where is it ? "

" It is in a golden parrot in such and such a tree," she
said.

After that he went there and caught the parrot and
killed it. Then the King died.

After he died, the Prince having set fire to the palace
there, and cut down the Yaksani who stayed with the
King, left his mothers in charge of the city formed by the
maimed Yaksani, and remained ruling the kingdom.

Western Province.

For some variants, see the notes at the end of the story numbered
48.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (Swyxinerton), p. 355, a
Princess in man's disguise, acting as the King's guard, found a ghul
in the form of a woman howling under a corpse that was hanging
from a gallows. She stated that it was her son whom she could
not reach, and she asked to be lifted up. When raised up to it by
the Princess she began to suck the blood, on seeing which the Princess
made a cut at her, but only severed a piece of her clothing, which
proved to be of so rich a quality that the King ordered her to procure
more for his wife.

In the Jataka story No. 96 (vol. i, p. 235) an Ogress in the disguise
of a woman followed a man into Takkasila, intending to devour
him. The King saw her, was struck by her beauty, and married
her. When he had given her authority over those who dwelt in
the palace, she brought other Ogres at night, and ate the King and
every one in the place.

No. 25

The Wicked King

IN a certain country there are a King and a Queen, it
is said. The Queen has no children. During the
time while she was rearing another (adopted) Prince, a
child was born to the Queen.

After it was born, the King and Queen having spoken
together, " Let us kill the Prince whom we have brought
up," said to the King's Minister, " Take this Prince and
put him down in a clump of bamboos." The Minister
having taken the Prince, and put him down in a clump
of bamboos, returned. The Prince was seven years old.

After that, a man having gone to the bamboo clump
to cut bamboos, and having seen, when he looked, that
this Prince was there, without stopping to cut bamboos
took away this Prince.

On the following day the King said to the Minister, " Look
if the Prince is in the bamboo bush, and come back."
Afterwards he went, and when he looked, the Prince was
not there. So he came to the King, and said, " The Prince
is not there."

Then the King said, " The man who went away after
cutting bamboos will have taken him. Give these thousand
masuran, and bring him." Having said this, he gave him
a thousand masuran. The Minister, having taken the
thousand masuran, and given them to the man who took
away the Prince, brought him and gave him to the King.

Afterwards the King said to the Minister, " Take this
one and put him down in the middle of the path to a cattle
fold in which five hundred cattle are collected, and return.

193 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

so that, having been trampled on as the cattle are going
along the path, he may die." So the Minister having
taken that Prince, and put him down in the middle of
the path to a cattle fold in which five hundred cattle were
collected, came away.

After that, as the five hundred cattle were setting off
to go into the cattle fold, when the great chief bull which
went first was about to go in, having seen this Prince he
placed him under his body, and allowing the other cattle
to go in, this bull went afterwards. Subsequently, as the
herdsman who drove the cattle was going along he saw
this Prince, and taking the Prince the herdsman went away.

On the following day the King said to the Minister,
" Look if the Prince is at the cattle fold, and come back."
The Minister went, and when he looked the Prince was
not there. So the Minister came and said to the King,
" He is not there."

Then the King having given a thousand masurap into
the Minister's hand said, " The herdsman who drove the
cattle will have taken him. Give these thousand masuran
and bring him." So the Minister having taken the thousand
masuran, and given them to the herdsman, brought the
Prince and gave him to the King.

After that, the King said, " Take this one and put him
down in the road on which five hundred carts are coming."
So the Minister having taken the Prince, and put him
down in the road on which five hundred carts were coming,
returned.

Then the carters, having seen from afar that the Prince
was there, took the Prince, and placed him in a cart, and
went home with him.

On the following day the King said to the Minister,
" Go and look if the Prince is in the road on which the
five hundred carts come, and return." The Minister went,
and when he looked the Prince was not there. So the
Minister came and told the King, " The Prince is not there."

Then the King gave the Minister a thousand masuran,
and said, " The carters will have taken him. Give these
thousand masuran and bring him." The Minister having

THE WICKED KING 193

given the thousand masuran to the carters, brought the
Prince and gave him to the King.

After that, the King said to the Minister, " Speak to
the potter and come back. There is no other means of
kilUng this one but surrounding him with pottery in the
pottery kiln, and burning him." So the Minister went
and spoke to the potter, " Our King tried thus and thus
to kill this Prince ; he could not. Because of that, how
if you should surround him even in the pottery kiln ? "

The potter said, " Should you bring him I will surround
him."

So the Minister came and said to the King, " The potter
told me to take the Prince."

After that, the King wrote a letter : " Immediately
on seeing the Prince who brings this letter, surround him
in the pottery kiln, and kill him." Having written that
in the letter, and given the letter to the Prince who had
been adopted, he said, " Take this letter to such and such
a potter, and having given it come back."

Afterwards, as the Prince was going along taking the
letter, the King's Prince having played at " Disks," ^ and
the counters having been driven out, was dragging along
the hop coimters. Then, having seen this Prince, the
King's Prince asked, " Where, elder brother, are you
going ? "

The Prince said, " Father gave me this letter, and told
me to give it to such and such a potter. Having given it
I am going to return."

The King's Prince said, " If so, elder brother, I will give
that letter and come back. You drag these hop counters."

Then this Prince having said " Ha," and given the
letter into the hands of the King's Prince, dragged the
hop counters.

• Sillu, " Hopscotch," a game omitted from my account of village
games in Ancient Ceylon. I have seen boys pla5dng a form of Hop-
scotch which may be this one. I do not understand the reference
to " dragging " the counters home after it, unless the meaning is
" carrying." The Sinhalese verb used is adinawa, which is some-
times employed with this other meaning.

194 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

While the King's Prince was taking the letter, the potter
was making ready the pottery kiln. After the Prince
had given the letter to the potter, when the potter looked
at it there was in the letter, " After you have seen this
letter, surround in the pottery kiln the Prince who brings
this letter, and set fire to it." So the potter taking the
Prince surrounded him in the pottery kiln, and set fire to
it. While it was burning in the pottery kiln the King's
Prince died.

After the adopted Prince finished dragging the hop
counters, and came to the palace, the King asked, " Did
you give the letter to the potter ? "

The Prince said, " As I was going there, younger brother
having played at ' Disks,' and the counters being driven
out, was dragging the hop counters. Having seen me
going, younger brother asked, ' Where, elder brother, are
you going ? ' I said, '' Father gave me this letter to give
to such and such a potter ; having given it I am going to
return.' Then younger brother said, ' Elder brother, I
will give that letter and come ; you draw these hop coun-
ters.' So I gave the letter into the hand of younger brother,
and I myself having drawn the hop counters came back."

Then the King quickly said to the Ministers, " Go to the
potter, and look if the Prince is there, and return."

The Ministers went and asked the potter, " Is the Prince
here ? "

The potter said, " I killed the Prince."

So the Ministers came and told the King that the Prince
was dead.

The King immediately wrote a letter to the King of
another city, that when he saw the Prince who brought
the letter he was to kill him ;- and having given the letter
into the hand of this adopted Prince, he said, " Give this
letter to the King of such and such a city, and come
back."

The Prince having taken the letter went to the palace
of the King of the city. At that time the King was not
in the palace ; the King's Princess was there. This Prince
having grown up was beautiful to look at ; the Princess

THE WICKED KING 195

thought of marrying him. Asking for the letter in the
hand of the Prince, when she looked at it there was written
that on seeing the Prince they were to kill him.

Then the Princess having torn up and thrown away the
letter, wrote a letter that on seeing the Prince they were
to marry him to the Princess. Having written it and
given it into the hand of the Prince, she said, " After our
father the King has come give him this letter."

After that, while the Prince, having taken the letter,
was there, the King came. The Prince gave him the
letter. When the King looked at the letter he learnt that
on seeing the Prince he was to marry the King's Princess
to him. So the King married the King's Princess to the
Prince.

Having married her, while the Prince was there, illness
seized the King who brought up the Prince, and they sent
letters for this Prince to come. The Prince would not.
Afterwards they sent a letter : " Even now the King
cannot be trusted [to live] ; he is going to die even to-day.
You must come." To that also the Prince replied, " I
will not."

The Princess said, " Having said ' I will ilot,' how will
it be ? Let us two go to-day." So the Prince and Princess
came. When they arrived, the King was about to die,
and breathing with difficulty. The Prince came and
sat near the King's feet ; the Princess sat near the King's
head. The King told the Prince to come near in order to
give him an oath [to repeat], in such a manner that he
would be unable to seize any article of the King's.

Well then, as the King was coming to mention the King's
treasure houses and all other things, while he was opening
his mouth to say the truth-oath to the Prince, the Princess,
the King's daughter-in-law, being aware of it, stroked
the King's neck, saying, " If so, father, for whom are they
if not for us ? " Then that which the King was about
to say he had no opportunity of saying ; while she was
holding his neck he died.

After that, the Prince having obtained the sovereignty,
and the treasure houses, and the other different houses

196 VILLAGE^ FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

that were there, the Prince and Princess stayed at that very
palace.

Anun nahanda yanakota tamumma nahinawa.

While they are going to kill others they die themselves.

North~western Province.

No. 26

The Kitul Seeds

A CERTAIN man and his son, who was a grown-up
youth, were walking along a path one day, when
they came to a place where many seeds had fallen from a
Kitul Palm tree.

The man drew his son's attention to them, and said,
" We must gather these Kitul seeds, and plant them. When
the plants from them grow up we shall have a large number
of Kitul trees, from which we will take the tOddy (juice),
and make jaggery (a kind of brown sugar). By selling this
we shall make money, which we will save till we shall have
enough to buy a nice pony."

" Yes," said the boy, " and I will jump on his back like
this, and ride him," and as he said it he gave a bound.

" What ! " said the father, " would you break my pony's
back like that ! " and so saying, he gave him a blow on the
side of the head which knocked him down senseless.

E. G. GOONEWARDENE, ESQRE

North-western Province.

There is another story of this type in the tale No. 53, below.

In the Jataka story No. 4 (vol. i, p. 19), there is a tale of a young
man who acquired a fortune and became Lord Treasurer by means
of a dead mouse which he picked up and sold for a farthing, subse-
quently increasing his money by careful investments.

In the Katha Sartt Sagara, vol. i, p. 33, a nearly identical mouse
story is given.

In Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes), p. 31, there is a different one. A
man who was to receive four pice for carrying a jar of ghi, settled that
he would buy a hen with the money, sell her eggs, get a goat, and
then a cow, the milk of which he would sell. Afterwards he would

igS VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

marry a wife, and when they had children he would refuse some
cooked rice which they would offer him. At this point he shook
his head as he refused it, and the jar fell and was broken.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 23, a man who
was carrying a jar of butter on his head, and who expected to get
three halfpence for the job, was going to buy a hen, then a sheep,
a cow, a milch buffalo, and a mare, and then to get married. As
he patted his future children on the head the pot fell and was broken.

In The Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., i, p. 296) there is a
well-known variant in which the fortune was to be made out of a
tray of glass-ware.

No. 27
The Speaking Horse

THERE was once a certain King who was greatly want-
ing in common sense, and in his kingdom there was
a Panditaya who was extremely wise. The King had a
very beautiful white horse of which he was very proud.
The Panditaya was respected and revered by all, but for
the King little or no respect was felt, on account of his
foolish conduct. He observed this, and became jealous of
the Pan^itaya's popularity, so he determined to destroy
him.

One day he sent for him. The Panditaya came and
prostrated himself before the King, who said, " I hear that
you are extremely learned and wise. I require you to
teach my white horse to speak. I will allow you one week
to consider the matter, at the end of which time you must
give me a reply, and if you cannot do it your head will be
cut off."

The Pan4itaya replied, " It is good, O Great King," ^
and went home in very low spirits.

He lived with a beautiful daughter, , a grown-up girl.
When he returned she observed that he was melancholy,
and asked the reason, on which the Panditaya informed
her of the King's command, and said that it was impossible
to teach a horse to speak, and that he must place his affairs
in order, in preparation for his death.

" Do as I tell you," she said, " and your hfe will be saved.
When you go to the King on the appointed day, and he
asks you if you are able to teach his horse to speak, you

* Sadhu Maharajani.

189

200 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

must answer, ' I can do it, but it is a work that will occupy
a long time. I shall require seven years' time for it. You
must also allow me to keep the horse by me and ride it,
while you will provide food for it.' The King will agree to
this, and in the meantime who knows what may happen ? "

The Panditaya accepted this wise advice. He appeared
before the King at the end of the week, and prostrated
himself. The King asked him, " Are you able to teach my
white horse to speak ? "

" Maharajani," he replied, " I am able." He then ex-
plained that it would be a very difficult work, and would
occupy a long time ; and that he would require seven years
for it, and must have the horse by him all the time, and
use it, while the King would provide food for it.

The King was deUghted at the idea of getting his horse
taught to speak, and at once agreed to these conditions.
So the Panditaya took away the horse, and kept it at the
King's expense.

Before the seven years had elapsed the King had died,
and the horse remained with the Panditaya.

E. G. GOONEWARDENE, ESQRE.

North-western Province.

No. 28
The Female Quail

A FEMALE Quail having laid a» egg on a rock, went
to eat food. Then the [overhanging] rock closed
over it, and when the bird returned there was no egg.
" Ando ! There is no egg," she said.

Well then, she went to the Mason. The Mason said,
" Sit down, O Bird."

" What 'is [the use of] sitting and staying ? What is
[the use of] betel leaf and areka nut at the comer of the
bed ? Cut the rock, and give me the egg, O Mason," she
said.

The Mason said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Village Headman.^ The
Village Headman said, '' Sit down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and staying ? What is the
use of betel leaf and areka nut at the comer of the bed ?
O Village Headman, tie up the house-door * of the Mason,
the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me the egg,"
she said.

The Village Headman said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Pig. The Pig said, " Sit
down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and stajdng ? What is the
use of betel leaf and areka nut at the comer of the bed ?
O Pig, feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the
Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the
Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me
the egg," she said.

* Gamaya.

s Ge-dora, which, probably means only " house-door " in this case,
and not buildings, etc., in general.

202 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The Pig said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Vaedda. The Vaedda said,
" Sit down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and staying ? What is the use
of betel leaf and areka nut at the comer of the bed ? O
Vaedda, shoot (with bow and arrow) the Pig, the Pig who
did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman, the
Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door of the
Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give me
the egg," she said.

The Vaedda said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Timbol creeper.^ The Tim-
bola said, " Sit down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and staying ? What is the
use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed ?
O Timbola, prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who
did not shoot the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice
field of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who
did not tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who
did not cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Timbola said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Fire. The Fire said, " Sit
down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and staying ? What is the
use of betel leaf and areka nut at the comer of the bed ?
O Fire, bum the Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick
the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the
Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village
Headman, the Village Headman who did not tie up the
house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the
rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Fire said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Water-pot. The Water-
pot said, " Sit down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and staying ? What is the
use of betel leaf and areka nut at the comer of the bed ?
O Water-pot, quench the Fire, the Fire that did not bum

^ A creeper with long sharp thorns, punctures by which usually
cause ulcers.

THE FEMALE QUAIL 203

the Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick the body of
the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the Pig
who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman,
the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door
of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give
me the egg," she said.

The Water-pot said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Elephant. The Elephant
said, " Sit down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and stajring ? What is the
use of betel leaf and areka nut at the corner of the bed ?
O Elephant, make muddy the Water-pot, the Water-pot
that did not quench the Fire, the Fire that did not bum
the Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick the body of
the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the
Pig who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Head-
man, the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-
door of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock,
and give me the egg," she said.

The Elephant said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Rat. The Rat said, " Sit
down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and staying ? What is the
use of betel leaf and areka nut at the comer of the bed ?
O Rat, creep into the ear of the Elephant, the Elephant
who did not make muddy the Water-pot, the Water-pot
that did not quench the Fire, the Fire that did not bum the
Timbola, the Timbola that did not prick the body of the
Vaedda, the Vaedda who did not shoot the Pig, the Pig
who did not feed in the rice field of the Village Headman,
the Village Headman who did not tie up the house-door
of the Mason, the Mason who did not cut the rock, and give
me the egg," she said.

The Rat said, " I will not."

From there she went to the Cat. The Cat said, " Sit
down, O Bird."

" What is the use of sitting and staying ? What is the
use of betel leaf and areka nut at the comer of the bed ?
O Cat, eat the Rat, the Rat who did not creep into the ear

204 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

of the Elephant, the Elephant who did not make muddy
the Water-pot, the Water-pot that did not quench the Fire,
the Fire that did not burn the Timbola, the Timbola that
did not prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda who did
not shoot the Pig, the Pig who did not feed in the rice field
of the Village Headman, the Village Headman who did not
tie up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason who did not
cut the rock, and give me the egg," she said.

The Cat said " Ha " (Yes).

Well then, the Cat went to catch the Rat, the Rat went
to creep into the ear of the Elephant, the Elephant went
to make muddy the Water-pot, the Water-pot went to
quench the Fire, the Fire went to bum the Timbola, the
Timbola went to prick the body of the Vaedda, the Vaedda
went to shoot the Pig, the Pig went to feed in the rice field
of the Village Headman, the Village Headman went to tie
up the house-door of the Mason, the Mason went to cut
the rock, and take and give the egg.

Here the story ends. " Was the egg given ? " I asked.
" It would be given," the narrator said. " No, he gave
it," said a listener.

North-western Province.

In a variant which I heard in the Southern Province, a
bird laid two eggs in a crevice between two stones, which
drew close together. She went to a Mason or Stone-cutter ;
(2) to a Pig ; (3) to a Hunter ; (4) to an Elephant, which
she requested to kill him ; (5) to a Lizard {Calotes), which
she told to crawl up the Elephant's trunk into its brain ;
(6) to a Jungle Hen, which she told to peck and kill the
Lizard ; (7) to a Jackal, who, when requested to kill the
Jungle Hen, at once agreed, and said, "It is very good,"
and set off after her.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 209 — Tales of the
Punjab, p. 195 — there is a variant. While a farmer's wife was
winnowing corn, a crow carried off a grain, and perched on a tree
to eat it. She threw a clod at it, and knocked it down, but the
grain of com rolled into a crack in the tree, and the crow, though
threatened with death in case of failure, was unable to recover it.

It went for assistance, and requested (i) a Woodman to cut the

THE FEMALE QUAIL 205

tree ; {2) a King to kill the man ; {3) a Queen to coax the King ;
(4) a Snake to bite the Queen ; (5). a Stick to beat the Snake ; (6)
Fire to burn the Stick ; (7) Water to quench the Fire ; (8) an Ox
to drink the water ; (9) a Rope to bind the Ox ; (10) a Mouse to
gnaw the Rope; (11) a Cat to catch the Mouse. "The moment
the Cat heard the name Mouse, she was after it, for the world would
come to an end before a Cat would leave a Mouse alone." In the
end the Crow got the grain of corn, and saved its life.

In Indian Folk Tales (Gordon), p. 53, there is an allied variant.
A bird had bought three grains of corn for three cowries, and while
she was on a new cart eating them one fell into a joint of the cart
where she was unable to get it.

She appealed to (i) the Carpenter to take the catt to pieces, so
that she might obtain it ; (2) the King to make him do it ; (3) the
Queen to persuade the King ; (4) a Deer to graze in the Queen's
garden ; (5) the Stick to beat the Deer ; (6) the Fire to burn the
Stick ; (7) the Lake to quench the Fire ; (8) the Rats to fill up the
Lake ; {9) the Cat to attack the Rats ; (10) the Elephant to crush
the Cat; (11) an Ant to crawl into the Elephant's ear; (12) the
Crow, " the most greedy of all creatures," to eat the Ant. The
Crow consented, and the usual result followed.

No. 29

The Pied Robin

AT a certain city, while a female Pied Robin ^ was
digging and digging on a dung-hill, she met with a
piece of scraped coconut refuse, it is said. She took it,
and put it away, and having gone again, while she was
digging and digging there was a lump of rice dust. Having
taken it, and put it to soak, she said, " Sister-in-law at that
house. Sister-in-law at this house, come and pound a little
flour." 2

The women, sa3nng, " No, no, with such a fragment you
can pound that little bit yourself," did not come.

The Pied Robin pounded the flour, and cooking a cake
of the size of a rice mat [wattiya), and tying a hair-knot of
the size of a box, and putting on a cloth of the breadth of
a thumb, while she was going away she met with a Jackal.

The Jackal asked, " Where are you going ? "

" Having looked for a [suitable] marriage, I am going to
get married," she said.

The Jackal said, " Would it be bad if you went with
me ? " 3

The bird asked, " What do you eat ? "

The Jackal said, " I eat a land crab, and drink a little
water."

Then the bird said, " Chi ! Bullock, Chi ! " and while
going on again she met with a blind man.

The blind man asked, " Where are you going ? "

* Polmicca kirilK.

* An imitation of the song of the bird, apparently.
» Mat ehka giyama nakeyi ?

THE PIED ROBIN 207

" Having looked for a [suitable] marriage, I jam going to
get married," she said.

The blind man said, " Would it be bad if you went with
me?"

The bird asked, " What do you eat ? "

The blind man said, " Having chewed an eel, I drink a
little water."

Then the bird said, " Chi ! Bullock, Chi ! " and while
going on again she met with a Hunchback, chopping and
chopping at a bank (ntra) in a rice field.

The Hunchback said^ " Where are you going ? "

" Having looked for a [suitable] marriage, I am going to
get married," she said.

The Hunchback said, "Would it be bad if you went
with me ? "

The bird asked, " What do you eat ? "

The Hunchback said, " I eat rice cakes."

Then the bird having said, " Ha. It is good," the Hunch-
back said, " I put rice on the hearth to boil, and came away.
You go and look after it."

After the bird had gone to the Hunchback's house, she
found that the water was insufficient for cooking the rice,
and except that it was making a sound, " Kuja tapa tapa,
kuja tapa tapa/' it was not cooking.

So the bird went to the Hunchback, and said, " The
water is insufficient for cooking the rice. It only says
' Kuja tapa tapa, kuja tapa tapa.' ^ Bring water, O
Hunchback."

The Hunchback became angry [at the Nicknames], and
having come home, when he was taking a water-pot to the
well, a frog sitting on the well mouth jumped into the well,
making a sound, " Kujija bus." 2

Then the Hunchback, having drawn and drawn up the
water from the well, caught and killed the frog, and tried
to fill the water-pot with water. The water continuing, as

^ " Stooping man, there is heat, heat."

' Kwjja is a man who stoops. He may have thought it said,
" Stooping man, you are refuse."

2o8 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

he poured it, to make a sound " Kuja kutu kutti, kuja
kutu kutu," ^ except that it splashed up does not fill the
water-pot.

Through anger at it, he took the water-pot and struck
it against the mouth of the well, and smashed it.

While he was coming home he met a Village Headman.
The Village Headman asked, " Where, Mr. Hunchback,
did you go ? "

The Hunchback said, " What is the journey on which
I am going to thee, Bola, O Heretic ? " and having come
home, killed the Pied Robin, and ate the cakes that the
bird brought.

North-western Province.

In Indian Folk Tales (Gordon), p. 59, a large grain measure {paild)
having quarrelled with his wife, the small grain measure (pailTj, and
beaten her, she ran o£E, and on her way met with a Crow, which
invited her to stay with him. She inquired, " What will you give
me to eat and drink, what to wear and what to spend ? " The
reply being unsatisfactory, she went on, and met a Bagula (crane
or heron), which also invited her to stay, and when asked the same
question gave an unsatisfactory answer. She next met a King, who
said, " I will place one cushion below you and one above, and what-
soever yon desire you may have to eat." She refused this, and met
a dog, who told her that in the King's store there was much raw
sugar, of which they would eat as -much as they pleased. She
accepted this offer, and they lived in the store ; but one day the
King's daughter threw in the scales, which wounded the dog on the
head, so the measure jumped out.

1 Kuti is a bend. He appears to have interpreted it as, " Stooping
man, you are bent, bent."

All these expressions are imitations of some of the notes of the
bird's song.

No. 30
The Jackal and the Hare

IN a certain country there are a Jackal and a Hare living
together, it is said.

One day when the Jackal was rubbing himself in the
morning in the open space at the front of the house, there
was a pumpkin seed in his hair. He took it and planted it.
Afterwards, when the Hare went to the open ground, and
was rubbing himself, he also had a pumpkin seed in his
hair. He, too, took it and planted it. That which the
Jackal planted, being without water, died. The Hare
having brought water in his ears, and watered his seed, it
sprouted, grew large, and bore a fruit.

After the fruit had become large, the Jackal and Hare
spoke together, " Friend, with that pumpkin fruit let us
eat pumpkin milk-rice." They also said, " Whence the
rice, coconut, and the like, for it ? " >

Then the Hare said, " We two will go to the path to the
shops. You stay in the bushes. I will be lying down in
the grass field (pitiya) at the side of the path. Men going
along the road, having placed on the path the articles which
they are carr5dng to the shops, will come to take me. Then
you take the goods, and go off to the bushes."

When the Jackal and Hare had gone to the path that
led to the shops, and seen a man coming, bringing a bag of
rice, the Hare lay down in the grass field as though dead.
The Jackal hid himself and waited.

That man having come up, and seen that the Hare was
dead, said, " Appa ! Bola, there is meat for me." So he
placed the bag of rice on the road, and went to get the Hare.
Then the Jackal came running, and carried off the bag of

209 , p

210 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

rice into the bushes. When the man was approaching the
Hare, it got up and ran away. So the man had neither the
bag of rice nor the Hare. He went home empty-handed

Again when the Jackal and Hare were looking out, they
saw a man come, bringing a pingo (carrjdng-stick) load of
coconuts, and the Hare went and lay down again in the
grass field. The Jackal hid himself and looked out.

Afterwards that man came up, and as he was going on
from there he saw that the Hare was lying dead, and saying,
" Appa ! Bola, there is a Hare," placed the pingo load of
coconuts on -the path, and went to get the Hare. The
Jackal, taking the pingo load of coconuts, went into the
bushes. As that man approached the Hare it got up and
ran away. So the man had neither the pingo load of coco-
nuts nor the Hare. He went home empty-handed.

As the Jackal and Hare were looking out again, they
saw that a man was bringing a bill-hook and a betel-cutter,
which he had got made at the forge. So the Hare went
and lay down again in the field.

The man came up, and when going on from there, having
seen that the Hare was dead, placed the bill-hook and
betel-cutter on the path, and went to get the Hare. Then
the Jackal carried the bill-hook and the betel-cutter into
the bushes. As that man was coming near to take the
Hare, it got up and ran away. So that man had neither
the bill-hook, nor the betel-cutter, nor the Hare. He went
home empty-handed.

As the Jackal and Hare were looking out again, they
saw a potter coming, bringing a pingo load of pots, so the
Hare went and lay down again in the grass field. The
Jackal hid himself and waited.

When the potter was going on from there, he saw that
the Hare was dead, and having placed the pingo load of
pots on the path, he went to get it. Then the Jackal,
taking the pingo load of pots, went off into the bushes.
As the man was coming near the Hare it got up and ran
away. So that man had neither the pingo load of pots nor
the Hare. He went home empty-handed.

THE JACKAL AND THE HARE 211

Then the Jackal and Hare took home the bag of rice,
and the pingo load of coconuts, and the bill-hook, and the
betel-cutter, and the pingo load of pots. After that, having
plucked and cut up the pumpkin fruit, and washed the
rice, and put it in the cooking pot, and placed it on the
fire, and broken the coconut, and scraped out the inside,
while squeezing it [in water in order to make coconut-milk],
the Jackal said to the Hare, " Friend, I will pour this on
the rice, and in the meantime before I take it off the fire,
you go, and plucking leaves without a point bring them
[to use] as plates."

While the Hare was going for them, the Jackal ate all
the rice, and placed only a little burnt rice in the bottom
of the cooking pot. Then he lay down on the ash-
heap.

Afterwards the Hare returned, and saying, " Friend,
there is not a leaf without a point. I have walked and
walked through the whole of this jungle in search of one,"
gave into the paws of the Jackal two leaves with the ends
bitten off. Then, without getting up, the Jackal said,
" Ando ! Friend, what is the use of a leaf without a point
now ? The rice people, the coconut people, the bill-hook
and betel-cutter people, the pots people having eaten the
rice, and beaten me also, rolled me over on this ash-heap.
There will still be a little burnt rice in the bottom of the
cooking pot. Scrape it off, and putting a little in your
mouth, put a little in my mouth too." So the Hare having
scraped off the burnt rice, and eaten a little of it, put a
little in the Jackal's mouth.

Then the Jackal said, " Friend, a tick is biting my nose ;
rid me of it." When the Hare was coming near to rid him
of it, the Jackal vomited all over the Hare's body. Then
the Hare bounded off to the river, and jumped into it, and
having become clean returned to the place where the Jackal
was.

The Jackal asked, " How, Friend, did you become clean ? "

The Hare said, " I went to a place where a washerman-
uncle is washing clothes, and got him to wash me."

The Jackal asked, " Where is he washing ? "

212 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The Hare said, " Look there ! He is washing at th«
river."

Afterwards the Jackal went to the river, and said to the
washerman-uncle, " Ane ! Washerman-uncle, wash me too,
a little."

When the washerman-uncle, having taken hold of the
Jackal's tail, had struck a couple of blows with him on the
stone, the Jackal said, " That will do, that will do, washer-
man-uncle, I shall have become clean now." But the
washerman-uncle, saying, "Will you eat my fowls again
afterwards ? Will you eat them ? " gave him another
stroke. Then the washerman-uncle, having washed the
clothes, went home.

From that time the Jackal and Hare became unfriendly,
and the Jackal said that whenever he saw Hares he would
eat them.

North-western Province.

According to a variant, the washeiman struck the Jackal on the
stone until he was dead.

No. 31
The Leopard and the Mouse-deer

IN a jungle wilderness in the midst of the forest there
is a rock cave. In the cave a Leopard dwells. One
day when the Leopard had gone for food a lame female
Mouse-deer {Miminnl) crept into the cave, and gave birth
to two young ones.

Afterwards the Mouse-deer having seen that the Leopard,
having got wet at the time of a very great rainfall, was
coming to the cave, began to beat the young ones, so the
young ones began to squall. Then the Mouse-deer came
out, saying, " There is fresh Leopard's flesh, there is dried
Leopard's flesh ; what else shall I give you ? Having
eaten these, still you are crying in order to eat fresh Leo-
pard's flesh ! "

As the Mouse-deer was saying it, the Leopard heard it,
and thought, " They are going to eat me," and having be-
come afraid, sprang off and ran away, thinking, " I will
go to my Preceptor, and tell him."

Having gone to him, the Jackal said, " What is it. Sir ?
You are running as though afraid. Why ? " he asked.

The Leopard then replied, " Preceptor, the danger that
has happened to me is thus : A Mouse-deer having crept
into the cave that I live in, and having borne young ones
there, as I was returning came shouting and springing to
eat me. Through fear of it I came running away," he said
to the Jackal.

The Jackal then said, " What of that ! Don't be afraid.
I will come with you and go there. As soon as I go I will
bite her and cast her out."

As they went near the cave, the Leopard having lagged

il3

214 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

a very little behind, said, " Friend, I cannot go, I cannot

go-
Then the Jackal said, " If you are afraid to that extent,
be so good as to go after tying a creeper to my neck, and
tying the other end to your waist. Sir," he said to the
Leopard.

So bringing a creeper, and tying one end to the Jackal's
neck, and t5dng the other end to the Leopard's waist, they
set off to go to the cave.

As they werQ going there, the Mouse-deer, having seen
that the Jackal was bringing the Leopard, began to beat
the young ones. When the young ones were squalling, the
Mouse-deer having come out, says, " Don't cry ; the Jackal
is bringing another Leopard for you." Then she says to
the Jackal, " Jackal-artificer, after I told you to bring seven
yoke of Leopards, what has the Jackal-artificer come for,
tying a creeper to only this one lean Leopard ? "

After she had asked this, the Leopard thought, " They
have joined with the Jackal, and are going to kill me," and
began to run off. Then the creeper having become tightened
round the Jackal's neck, the Leopard ran away, taking
him along, causing the Jackal-artificer to strike and strike
against that tree, this tree, that stone, this stone.

The Leopard having gone a great distance in the jungle,
after he looked [found that] the creeper had become
thoroughly tightened on the Jackal-artificer's neck.
Having seen that he was grinning and showing his teeth,
the Leopard says, " The laugh is at the Jackal-artificer.
I was frightened, and there is no blood on my body,"
he said.

When he looked again, the Jackal was dead, grinning
with his teeth and mouth.

North-western Province,

This story is given in The Orientalisf, vol. iv, p. 79 (D. A. Jaya-
wardana), but the animals that went to the cave are wrongly termed
tiger and fox, which are not found in Ceylon.

It is also related in vol. iv, p. 121 (S. J. Goonetilleke)., the animals
being a hind and a tiger.

In vol. i, p. 261, there is a Santal story (J. L. Phillips), in which

THE LEOPARD AND THE MOUSE-DEER 215

a goat with a long beard, which had taken refuge in a tiger's cave
frightened it when asked, " Who are you with long beard and
crooked horns in my house ? " by saying, " I am your father." A
monkey returned with it, their tails being tied together. When they
came to the cave, the monkey asked the same question, and received
the same answer, which frightened both animals so much that they
fled, the monkey's tail being pulled off. When the tiger stopped,
and began to lick himself, he found the monkey's tail so sweet that
he went back and ate the monkey.

In the Panchatantra (Dubois), a bearded goat frightened a Uon
that he found in a cave in which he took refuge, by saying, " I am
the Lord He-goat. I am a devotee of Siva, aTid I have promised
to devour in his honour 10 1 tigers, 25 elephants, and 10 lions." He
had eaten the rest, and was now in search of the lions. A jackal
persuaded the lion to return, but the goat frightened them again.

In Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 303, a pandit frightened a demon
in this manner, by scolding a wrestler who brought for dinner an
apparent goat which the pandit recognised as a demon.

In Wide-Awake Stones (Steel and Temple), p. 132 fi. — Tales of
the Punjab, p. 123 ff. — a farmer's wife frightened a tiger that was
going to eat a cow. A jackal persuaded it to return, their tails
being tied together. On the tiger's running ofE again, the jackal
was jolted to death.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. iv, p. 257, there is a Santal story
by Rev. E. T. Cole, of a tiger which was frightened by two brothers.
The three sat round a fire and asked riddles. The tiger's was, " One
I will eat for breakfast, and another like it for supper." The men
expressed their inability to guess the answer, and their riddle was,
" One will twist the tail, the other will wring the ear." When the
tiger was escaping, they held the tail till it came off.

In Tota Kahani (Small), p. q8, a lynx took possession of a tiger's
cave, and behaved like the' mouse-deer when the tiger came up.
When the tiger returned with a monkey, the lynx frightened it Uke
the mouse-deer, by telling its young ones that a monkey friend had
sworn to' bring a tiger tiiat day. On hearing this, the tiger killed
the monkey, and fled.

No. 32

The Crocodile's Wedding

IN a certain country there is a Crocodile in the river, it
is said. On the high ground on the other bank there
was a dead Elephant. A Jackal of the high ground on this
side came to the river bank, and on his saying " Friend, "
the Crocodile rose to the surface.

Then the Jackal said, " Now then, how are you getting on,
living in that [solitary] way ? I could find a wife for you,
but to fetch you a mate I have no means of going over to
the land on that bank."

The Crocodile said, " Ane ! Friend, if you would become
of assistance to me in that way can't I put you on the other
bank ? "

The Jackal said, " If so, Friend, put me on the groimd on
the other side, so that I may go to-day and ask for a mate
for you, and come back again."

Then the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back, swam
across the river, and after placing the Jackal on the other
bank returned to the water.

The Jackal went and ate the body of that dead Elephant.
Having eaten it during the whole of that day, he returned
again to the river. Having arrived there, when he said
" Friend," the Crocodile rose to the surface and asked the
Jackal, " Friend, did you ask for a mate for me ? "

Then the Jackal said, " Friend, I did indeed ask for a mate ;
we have not come to an agreement about it yet. To-morrow
I must go again to settle it. On that account put me on the
ground on the other side." So the Crocodile, placing the
Jackal on his back, swam across the river, and placed the
Jackal on this bank.

Next day, as it became light, the Jackal went to the river.

THE CROCODILE'S WEDDING 217

and as he was saying " Friend, " the Crocodile rose to the
surface. The Jackal said, " Friend, in order that I may go
and make a settlement of yesterday's affair and return again,
put me on the other bank."

Then the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back crossed
the river, and having placed the Jackal on the other bank
went again into the water.

The Jackal having gone to the dead body of the Elephant,
and eaten it even until nightfall, came to the river after night
had set in. As he was saying " Friend," the Crocodile rose
to the surface, and asked, " Friend, did you get it settled
to-day ? "

The Jackal said, " Friend, I have indeed settled the matter.
They told me to come to-morrow in order to summon her
to come. On that account put me on the far bank."

After that, the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back,
went across the river, and having placed the Jackal on the
ground on this side returned to the water.

The Jackal next day also, as it became light, went to the
river. When he said " Friend, " the Crocodile rose to the
surface. The Jackal said, " Friend, if I must bring and give
you your mate to-day, put me on the other bank."

After that, the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back,
went across the river, and having placed the Jackal on the
ground on the other side, went into the water.

The Jackal went that day to the dead body of the Ele-
phant, and having eaten it until nightfall the Elephant's
carcase became finished. In the evening the Jackal
came to the river, and when he was sa5ring " Friend," the
Crocodile rose to the surface, and asked, " Friend, where is
the mate?"

Then the Jackal said, " Ando ! Friend, they made a
mistake about it to-day ; they told me to return to-morrow
to invite her to come. Because of that put me on the other
bank again. Having come to-morrow I will bring and give
you the mate."

After that, the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back,
swam across the river, and having put down the Jackal on
the ground on this side, went into the water.

2i8 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Then the Jackal, sitting down on the high ground on this
bank, said to the Crocodile, " FooUsh Crocodiles ! Is it
true that a Jackal King like me is going to ask for a wed-
ding for thee, for a Crocodile who is in the water Uke thee ?
I went to the land on that bank to eat the carcase of an
Elephant which died on that side. To-day the carcase
was finished. So now I shall not come again. Thou art a
fool indeed."

Having said this, the Jackal came away.

'North-western Province.

This story is known by the Village Vaeddas.

In The Orientalist, Vol. ii, p. 46, this story is given by Mr. E.
Goonetilleke, the Crocodile being termed an Alligator.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 243 — Tales of the
Punjab, p. 330 — ^there is a variant in which the Jackal was attracted
by a fruit-laden wild plum tree. He made love to a lady Crocodile,
and was carried across the river by her.

No. 33

The Gamarala's Cakes

AT a village there are a Gamarala (a village headman or
elder) and a Gama-Mahage (his wife) and their four
sons, it is said.

Gne day while they were there the Gamarala said to his
wife, " Bolan, it is in my mind to eat cakes. For the boys
and for me fry ample cakes, and give us them," he said.

The Gamarala was looking out fdr them for many days ;
the Gama-Mahage did not cook and give him the cakes.

Again one day the Gamarala thought of eating cakes.
That day, also, the Gamarala reminded her of the matter of
the cakes. On the following day the Gama-Mahage having
fried five large cakes, placed them in the corn store. The
boys having gone to the chena and come back, after they
had asked, " Is there nothing to eat ? " the Gama-Mahage
said to the boys, " Look there ! There are cakes in the com
store. I put them there for father, too ; eat ye also," she
said. The boys having gone to the com store, all four ate
the cakes.

After they had eaten them, the Gamarala, having gone to
the watch-hut, came back. After he came the boys said,
" Father, we ate cakes." When the Gamarala asked,
" Where are [some] for me ? " " Mother puts them in the
com store," they said.

When the Gamarala went to the com store for the cakes
to eat, there were no cakes. " Where, Bolan, are the
cakes ? " he asked.

Saying, " Why are you asking for them at my hands ? If
there are none the boys will have eaten them," the Gama-
Mahage pushed against the Gamarala.

219

220 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Then the Gamarala said, " Now I shall not remind you
again. You do not make and give me the food I tell you
about." Having said, " It is good," and thinking, " Having
pounded and taken about half a quart of rice, and given it at
a place outside, and got the cakes fried, I must eat them,"
poimding the rice he took it away.

As he was going he saw a poor house. Having seen it the
Gamarala thought, " Should I give it at this house, these
persons because they are poor will take the rice, and I shall
not be able to eat cakes properly." So having gone to a
tiled house near it, and given a little rice, he said, " Make and
give me five cakes out of this, please."

The people of the house replied, " It is good," and taking
a little of the rice fried some cakes. The woman who fried
them then looked into the account. " For the trouble of
pounding the rice and grinding it into flour, I want ten cakes,"
she said. " Also for the oil and coconuts I want ten cakes,
and for going for firewood, and for the trouble of frying the
cakes, I want ten cakes." So that on the whole account for
cooking the cakes it was made out that the Gamarala must
give five cakes.

Next day the Gamarala, having eaten nothing at home,
came to eat the cakes. Having sat down, " Where are the
cakes ? " he asked.

Then the woman who fried the cakes said, " Gamarala,
from the whole of the rice I fried twenty-five cakes. For
pounding the rice and grinding it into flour I took ten cakes.
For the oil and coconuts I took ten cakes. For going for
firewood, and for the trouble of frying the cakes ten more
having gone, still the Gamarala must- bring and give me five
cakes."

Then the Gamarala thought, " A(Ja ! What a cake eating
is this that has happened to me ! "

After thinking thus, having gone outside and walked
along, and come to that poor house, he sat down. As he
was thinking about it that poor man asked, " What is it,
Gamarala, that you are thinking about in that way ? "

The Gamarala said, " The manner in which they fried
and gave me cakes at that house," and he told him about- it.

THE GAMARALA'S CAKES 221

Then the man of that poor house said to the Gamarala,
" Since we are poor you did not give the rice to us. If he
had given it to us wouldn't the Gamarala have been well
able to eat cakes ? The Gamarala having given us the. rice
would have had cakes to eat, and still five cakes to give for
that debt.

" For those cakes I will teach the Gamarala a trick," that
poor man said to the Gamarala. " The husband of the
woman who fried the cakes has gone to his village. The
woman is now connected with another man. Every day the
man having come at night taps at the door when he comes.
After she has asked from inside the house, ' Who is it ? ' he
makes a grunt, ' Hum.' Then having opened the door he
is given by her to eat and drink. To-day she will give the
cakes made for the Gamarala.

" After the Gamarala has gone at night in that manner,
and tapped at the door, she will ask, ' Who is it ? ' Then
say, ' Hum.' Then she will open the door. Having gone into
the house without speaking, she will give to eat and drink.
Having eaten and drunk, and been there a little time, open
the door and come away." Thus the poor man taught his
lesson to the Gamarila.

In that manner, the Gamarala having gone after it became
night, tapped at the house door.^ " Who is it ? " she asked.
"Hum," he said. Then having opened the door and taken
the Gamarala into the house, she gave him cakes and sweet-
meats to eat.

As he was eating them, some one else having come taps at
the door. The Gamarala became afraid. " Don't be
afraid," she said, and sent the Gamarala to the corn loft
[under the roof of the house, at the level of the top of the
side walls].

Having sent him there she asked, " Who tapped at the
door?" " Hum," he said. Then she opened the door, and
after she had looked it was the Tambi-elder-brother,^ who

1 Ge dorata.

* A Muhammedan trader or pedlar, called " elder brother " in
an honorary sense.

222 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

was trading in the village. She got him also into the house,
and gave him sweetmeats to eat.

When a little time had gone, again some one tapped at the
door. Then the Tambi-elder-brother, having become afraid,
prepared to run off without eating the sweetmeats. " Don't
be afraid," she said, and she put the Tambi also in another
part of the com loft [and he lay down].

Having come back, after she had opened the door and
looked, it was the man of the house who, having been to the
village, had come back. She gave him water to wash his
face, hands, and feet. After he had finished washing, she
gave him cakes and the like to eat, and water to drink. The
man afterwards lay down to sleep.

When a little time had gone, the man who went first to
the com loft, the Gamarala, asked for water, sa5ring, " Water,
water." Then the man of the house having opened his
eyes, asked, " What is speaking in the com loft ? "

" MTien you went to the village, as you were away a long
time, I made an offering of a leaf-cup of water to the deity.
Perhaps the deity is asking for it now," she said.

Then the man told her to put a coconut in the com loft.
So the woman put a coconut in the com loft.

The Gamarala, taking the coconut in his hand, sought for
a place on which to strike it [in order to break it, so that
he might drink the water in it]. As he was going feeling
with his hand, the Gamarala's hand touched a lump like a
stone in hardness, the head of Tambi-elder-brother. After
he touched it, the Tambi-elder-brother [not kiiowing what it
was] through fear trembled and trembled, and did not speak.
Then the Gamarala, taking the coconut, struck it very hard
on the head of the Tambi-elder-brother, thinking it was a
stone.

The man of the house thought [before this], " The water
in the coconut is insufficient for the deity. He will be
ascending [and leaving us]." After he had quickly opened
the door, and gone out to get more water to give him, the
Tambi-elder-brother sprang from the com loft, breaking his
head, and ran away.

Then the man who came out to get the water said, " My

THE GAMARALA'S CAKES 223

deity ! Here is water, here is water," holding the water
kettle in his hand. While he was calling out to him, the
woman having opened her eyes said, " What is it, Bolan ? "
As she was coming outside the man said, " The deity jumped
down and ran away."

At that very time, breaking out from the com loft, the
Gamarala also jumped down and ran off. Then the man of
the house asks the woman, " Who is that running away ? "

The woman says, " Why, Bolan, don't you understand in
this way ? Didn't the God Saman also rim behind him ? "

Village Vaedda of Bintaenna.

No. 34

The Kinnara and the Parrots

IN a large forest there is a great Banyan tree. In that
tree many Parrots roost. While they were doing so,
one day, having seen a Crow flying near, a Parrot spoke to
the other Parrots, and said, " Bolawu,^ do not ye ever give a
resting-place to this flying animal," he said.

While they were there many days after he said it, one day,
as a great rain was falling at night, on that day the flying
Crow, saying, " Ka, Ka," came and settled on the tree near
those Parrots.

That night one Parrot out of the flock of Parrots was
unable to come because of that day's rain. Having seen
that this Crow was roosting on the tree, all the Parrots, sur-
rounding and pecking and pecking the Crow, drove it out in
the rain.

Again, sajdng, " Ka, Ka," having returned it roosts in
the same tree. As the Parrots getting soaked and soaked
were driving off the Crow in this way, an old Parrot, sitting
down, says, " What is it doing ? Because it cannot go and
come in this rain it is trying * to roost here. What [harm]
will it do if it be here this little time in our company ? " thus
this old Parrot said. So the other Parrots allowed it to be
there, without driving away the Crow.

While it was there, the Crow in the night left excreta,
and in the morning went away. At the place where the
excreta fell a tree sprang up [from a seed that was in them] ;
it became very large.

As it was thus, one day as Kinnaras were going near that

' Plural of Bola, regarding which see No. 5.
• Lit. " making."

224

THE KINNARA AND THE PARROTS 225

[Crows'] village, having seen that another tree was near the
tree in which the Parrots roosted, the Kinnaras spoke with
each other, " In these days cannot we catch the Parrots
that are in this tree ? " they said.

Before that; the Kinnaras were unable to catch the
Parrots in the tree. There was then only that tree in which
the Parrots roosted. When the Kinnaras were going along .
the tree to catch the Parrots, the Parrots got to know [owing
to the shaking of the tree], so all the Parrots flew away.
Because of that they were unable to catch the Parrots.

The Kinnaras having [now] gone along the tree which had
grown up through the Crow's dropping the seed under the
tree, easily placed the net [over the Parrots' tree]. All the
Parrots having come in the evening had settled in the tree.
Having settled down, and a httle time having gone, after
they looked, all the Parrots being folded in the liet were
enclosed. The Parrots tried to go ; they could not.

While they were under the net in that way, the Parrot
Chief says to the other Parrots, " How has another tree
grown up under this tree that we live in ? " thus the Parrot
Chief asked the other Parrots. " At a time when I was not
here did ye give a resting-place to any one else ? "

Then the Parrots say, " One day when it was raining at
night, a Crow having come and stayed here, went away,"
they said.

Then the Parrot Chief says, " I told you that very thing,
' Don't give a resting-place to any one whatsoever.' Now we
all have become appointed to death. To-morrow morning
the Kinnaras having come and broken our wings, seizing us
all will go away."

When a httle time had gone, the Parrot Chief [again]
Spoke to the Parrots, and said, " I will tell you a trick.
Should you act in that way the whole of us can escape,"
the Parrot Chief said. " When the KinnarSs come near the
tree, all of you, tightly shutting your eyes and mouths, be as
though dead, without even flapping your wings. Then the
Kinnaras, thinking we are dead, having freed us one by one
from the net, when they are throwing us down on the
ground, and have takeii and placed all there, fly away after

226 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

they have thrown down the last one on the ground," he
said.

" That is good," they said.

While they were there, a Kinnara, tjdrig a large bag at his
waist, having come to the bottom of the tree, says, " Every
day [before], I couldn't [catch] ye. To-day ye are caught
in my net."

Having ascended the tree, as he was going [along it] the
Kinnara says, " What is this, Bola ? Are these dead with-
out any uncanny sotind ? " Having climbed onto the tree,
after he looked [he saw that] a part having hung neck down-
wards, a part on the branches, a part in the net, they were as
though dead.

Then the Kinnara saying, " A4a ! Tell ye the Gods !
Yesterday having climbed the tree I had no trouble in
spreading the net ; to-day having come to the tree I have
no trouble in releasing the net. Ada ! May the Gods be
witnesses of the event that has occurred ! What am I to
do with these dead bodies ! " and freeing and freeing each
one from the net, threw it down on the ground.

As he threw them to the ground he said " One " at the
first one that he threw to the ground, and having taken the
account [of them], after all had fallen, at the time when the
Kinnara, freeing the net, was coming descending from the
tree, the whole flock of Parrots went flying away.

Village Vaedda of Bintaenna.

A version of this story from the North-western Province,
by a Duraya, though shorter, contains the same incidents,
the tree, however, being another Fig, the Aehaetu, Ficus
tsiela. It ends as follows —

"As he [the Kinnara] was throwing them down in this
way, having been counting and counting ' One,' the Parrot
which he counted last having flapped its wings and screamed,
[according to a pre-arranged plan, to show] that the man
was cheated and that it had escaped, flew away. All the
Parrots having gone, after they had looked into the account
of the whole flock [found that] they were all correct.

" Then the Parrots said, ' Let us not give a resting-place

THE KINNARA AND THE PARROTS 227

to the Crow. At the places where he goes he is a dangerous
one. To us also, this danger came now [through him}. Acja!
Because we gave this one a resting-place. O Vishnu, burst
thou lightning on him who did this to us ! A(Ja ! Where
shall we all go now ? ' After flying and flying in the midst
of the forest, all went to each place where they had relatives."

The story is given in Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 114, with the
variations that a thousand crows came to the tree instead of one,
and that snares of thread were used in place of the net. The last
parrot did not escape, but was taken away and sold.

In Tola Kahanl (Small), p. 64, when a parrot and its young ones
were caught in a net they feigned death. All the young ones escaped
by this means. The mother was captured and sold to the King,
and regained her liberty by pretending to fetch some medicine to
cure his illness.

No. 35

How a Jackal settled a Lawsuit.

IN a village there is a rich foolish man. One son was bom
to the man. When they had been there in that way
for a long time, as the rich man's son was growing up, his
father died. Then all this wealth came into the hands of his
son. The son was a fool just like the father.

One day, having seen a wealthy man going in a carriage
in which a horse was yoked, that rich man's son thought he
ought to go in that way in a carriage in which a horse was
yoked. This rich man having gone home spoke to a servant,
and said, '' I will give thee thy expenses for going and coming.
Go thou, and buy and bring me a horse," he said. Having
said it, he gave him a hundred masuran, and having given
them sent him away.

This servant having gone on and on, went to a great big
country. Having gone there, he made inquiry throughout
the country — " Are there horses to sell in this country ? "

Then a man of that country said, " The Gamarala of this
country has many horses," he said. This servant who went
to bring horses having given a masurama to the man whom he
had met, said, " Please show me the house of the Gamarala
who has the horses," he said. So the man, calling the ser-
vant, having gone to the Gamarala's house, sent him there.

The Gamarala asked these men, " What have you come
here for ? "

The servant who went to get horses said, " I have come to
take a horse for money," he said.

" For whom ? " he asked.

" For a rich man in a village," he said.

288

HOW A JACKAL SETTLED A LAWSUIT 229

Having given fifty masuran he got a horse. After he got
it he again gave a masurama to that man who went with him.
Having given it, and the two persons having gone a consider-
able distance/ this man left both the horse and the man to go
[alone], and went home.

When the servant had taken the horse, and gone a consider-
able distance, after he looked [he found that] night was com-
ing on. On seeing it, taking the horse and saying, " This
night I cannot go," having sought and sought for a resting-
place, he met with a place where there were chekkus (miUs
for expressing oil). There this man found a resting-place ;
and having tied the horse to an oil-mill, this servant went to a
village, and ate and drank, and having returned went to A
shed at the side of the oil-mill, and lay down to sleep.
Having become much fatigued because he had brought
this horse very far, the servant went to sleep.

At dawn, the man who owned the oil-mill, having arisen
and come near the oil-mill, when he looked saw that a horse
was tied near the oil-mill. So this man thought, " Last
night the oil-mill gave birth to a horse " ; and unloosing it
from the place where it was tied, the owner of the oil-mill,
having taken the horse home, tied it in the garden.

Then the servant having opened his eyes, after he looked,
because the horse was not near the oil-mill went seeking it.
Having seen it tied in a garden close to a house, he spoke to
the [people in the] house, " Having tied this horse near the
oil-mill, in the night I went to sleep. This one breaking
loose in the night came here." Unfastening it, as he was
making ready to go, the man who owned the house came
running, [and saying], " Where did my oil-mill give birth to
this horse for thee last night ? " he brought the horse back,
and began to scold the servant. Then the servant thought,
" Now I shall not be allowed to go and give this horse to the
rich man. Because of it, I must go for a lawsuit."

As he was going seeking a trial he met with a place where
lawsuits were heard. The servant having gone [there] told
the judge about the business : " When I was bringing yester-
day the horse that I am taking for a rich man, it becarne

^ Hungak dura, " a great deal far," a common village expression.

230 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

night while I was on the road. As there was no way to go
or come, I tied and placed the horse at this oil-mill, and went
to sleep. Having arisen in the morning, after I looked,
because the horse that I brought was not there I went look-
ing and looking along its foot-prints. Having seen that it
was tied in the garden near the house of the oil-mill worker,
thinking, ' This one breaking loose has come here,' I un-
fastened it. As I was making ready to bring it away, having
scolded me and said that the oil-mill gave birth to the horse,
he took it," he said to the judge ; and stopped.

Then the judge says, " If the oil-mill gave birth to the
horse, the horse belongs to the man who owns the oil-mill,"
the judge said.

The servant having become grieved says, " What am I to
do now ? Without the masuran which the rich man
gave me, and without the horse that I got after giving fifty
masuran, having gone to the village what shall I say to
the rich man, so that I may escape ? " he said with much
grief.

Then a Jackal having come there along the same road,
and having seen it, asks the servant, " Because of what
matter are you going sorrowing in this way ? "

The servant says to the Jackal, " Jackal-artificer,^ is
the trouble that happened to me right to thee, according
to what was said ? "

As they were going along, the Jackal, having gone behind
him, asks again, " Tell me a little about it, and let us go.
More difficult things than that have happened to us — folds
[full] of scare-crows tangled together. As we cleared up
those with extreme case there is no difficulty in clearing up
this also." So the Jackal-artificer said to the servant.

Then the servant told the Jackal the way in which the
rich man gave the servant one hundred masuran ; the way
in which, having given fifty masuran, he got the horse ;
the way in which, having brought the horse, he tied and
placed it at the oil-mill ; the way in which the oil-mill
owner, unfastening the horse, went and tied it ; the way in
which, after he went to ask for it he would not give it, saying
' Nari-nayide ; see also No. 56, and p. 28.

HOW A JACKAL SETTLED A LAWSUIT 231

that the oil-mill gave birth to the horse, and came to scold
him ; then also what the judge said. The servant told
[these] to the Jackal-artificer, making all clear.

Then the Jackal-artificer says, " Ane ! That's thick work.
I'll put that right for you. You must assist me also," he
said. "You yourself having gone near the judge again,
and made obeisance, you must say, ' The oil-mill did not
give birth to the horse. The owner of the oil-mill, unfasten-
ing it from the place where I tied it, took it away. I have
evidence jof it. Having heard the evidence please do what
you want,' " so the Jackal taught him.

So the servant having gone, made obeisance to the judge.
" What have you come again for ? " the judge asked.

Then the servant says, " The oil-mill did not give birth
to the horse. Unfastening it from the place where I tied it,
and having gone, he tied it up. I have evidence of it.
Having heard the evidence do what you want. Sir," he said.

The judge says, " It is good. Who is your witness ? "

" The Jackal-artificer," he said. So the judge sent a
message to the Jackal to come. That day the Jackal did
not come. On the following day, also, he sent a message.
He did not come. Next day he sent a message. That day
the Jackal, having thoroughly prepared himself, came to the
judgment court.

After the judge asked, " Dost thou know about this law-
suit ? " " Yes, Sir," the Jackal-artificer said.

" Why didst thou not come yesterday," the judge asked
the Jackal.

" Yesterday I did not come ; I saw the sky," he said.
While saying it the Jackal was sleepy.

Again he asked, " Why didst thou not come on the first
day ? "

" On that day I saw the earth," he said. While sajdng
it the Jackal was sleepy.

" Why hast thou come to-day ? " he asked.

" To-day I saw the fire," he said.

" Having seen the sky why didst thou not come ? " the
judge asked.

Then the Jackal says, " Lord, the sky cannot be trusted.

232 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Sometitnes it rains, sometimes it clears up. Because of that
I did not come." Having said it he was sleepy.

" Having seen the earth why didst thou not come ? "
he asked.

" That also cannot be trusted," he said, " In some
places there are mounds, in some places it is flat ; in some
places there is water, in some places there is not water," he
said. Having said it he was sleepy.

" What hast thou come to-day for ? " the judge asked.

" To-day I saw the fire," he said. " Because of that I
came," he said. Then the Jackal says, " After the fire has
blazed up you do not look after your cold hut. I do not
look after my palace also." ^ Having said it the Jackal was
sleepy.

On account of that saying the judge having become angry,
" Being here what art thou sleeping for ? " he asked.

" Ane ! O Lord who will become a thousand Buddhas [in
future existences], I am very sleepy indeed," he said.

" Why, Bola ? " he asked.

" Last night I went to look at the fishes sporting on the
land. Because of that I am sleepy," he said.

Then the judge having become angry with the Jackal,
says very severely, " Having beaten him, cast ye him out."

This rascally Jackal having prayed with closed paws,
saying, " O Lord, who will become a thousand Buddhas,"
fell down and made obeisance.

" In what country, Bola, Jackal, do the fish who are in the
water sport on the land ? " the judge asked the Jackal.

The Jackal said, " I must receive permission [to ask also
a question], O Lord. How does an oil-mill which expresses
the kinds of oils give birth to horses ? "

Then the judge, having become ashamed and his anger
having gone, told the rich man's servant to take away the
horse. Village Vaedda of Bintaenna.

1 The meaning is that no appearances can be trusted, not even
those of the earth and sky; but that sometimes untrustworthy
things, even such a dangerous thing as fire, are wrongly trusted.
He was referring to the judge's acceptance of the ridiculous state-
ment regarding the birth of the horse.

HOW A JACKAL SETTLED A LAWSUIT 233

In Indian Fables, p. 45, Mr. P. V. Ramaswami Raju gives a South
Indian variant of the latter part of this story. A thief stole a horse
that was tethered to a tree, and then stated that he saw the tree
eat the horse. The case was referred to a fox [jackal]. The fox
said he felt dull. " All last night the sea was on fire ; I had to
throw a great deal of hay into it to quench the flames, so come to-
morrow and I shall hear your case." When he was asked how hay
could quench flames, he replied, " How could a tree eat up a horse ? "

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (Swynnerton), p. 142,
there is a Story about a foal that was born in the night while a mare
was left near an oil-press, and was claimed by the oil man. The
King who tried the case decided that the " mare could not possibly
have had this foal, because, you see, it was found standing by the
oil-press." A jackal assisted the owner to recover it, and fell down
several times in the court, explaining that during the night the sea
caught fire, and he was tired out by throwing water on it with a
sieve, to extinguish it. When asked how this could be possible, the
jackal retorted by inquiring if any one in the world ever heard of
an oil-press's bearing a foal.

In the interior of West Africa there is a variant, given in Contes
Soudanais (C. Monteil), p. 23. A mare was buried near a house,
and a pumpkin spread from the adjoining piece of land, until it
extended round the stake 'to which she was formerly tied. When
the owner of the pumpkin split open a fruit that grew near the stake,
there were two foals inside it, which the owner of the mare claimed.
The judgment was that as a dead mare could not bear foals' nor a
pumpkin contain horses, neither of the claimants had a right to the
foals ; but as one sowed the pumpkin, and the other had watered
it, each should take one foal.

In another tale in the same volume, p. 141, a hyaena had a bull
and a hare a cow, which bore a calf in the hare's absence. This
was claimed by the hyaena, as having been borne by the bull. The
dispute was referred to a male rat, which sent its young ones to say
that it could not leave its hole, as it was about to bear young ones.
When the hyaena laughed at the idea, and inquired when such an
occurrence had been known, the rat replied, " Since it has been the
bulls which bore calves."

No. 36

The Jackal and the Turtle

AT a village there is a large pond. At the margin of
the pond two Storks ^ live. When they had been
eating the small fishes in that pond in that way for a long
time, the pond became dried up "by a very great drought.
These two Storks having eaten the small fishes in the pond
until they were becoming finished, one day a Stork of these
two Storks having spoken to the other Stork, says, " Friend,
now then, that we have been here is no matter to us. Be-
cause of it let us go to another district." Thus he spoke.

Now, a Turtle stayed in the pond. The Turtle having
heard the speech of these two Storks, the Turtle says,
" Ane ! Friends, I also now have been staying in this pond
a long time. The pond having now dried up, I also have
nothing to eat, nor water to be in, and nowhere to go. Be-
cause of it, friends, having taken me to the village to which
you two go, put me down there," the Turtle said to the two
Storks.

Then one Stork says to the Turtle, " Ane ! Bola, foolish
Turtles ! How wilt thou go with us to another village ? "

Then the Turtle says, " Ane ! Friends, I indeed cannot
go flying to the village to which you go. You two somehow
or other having gone with me must put me there."

Then the two Storks say to the Turtle, " If thou, shutting
thy mouth, wilt remain without speaking an5rthing, we two
having gone to the place where there is water will put thee
down there," the two Storks said.

' Kokka, a word applied to several species of large waders. The
name of the Black Stork is Mana, but probably this is the bird
referred to, as in the Sinhalese variant.

2S4

THE JACKAL AND THE TURTLE 235

Having said this they brought a stick, and said to the
Turtle, " Grasp the middle of this stick tightly with the
mouth, and hold it tightly."

Having said this, the two Storks [holding the stick near
the ends] took the Turtle. While they were going flying,
as they were going above a dried field a Jackal saw the
shadow going with the two Storks carrying the Turtle.
Having seen it the Jackal says, " Isn't this a troublesome
comrade they are taking ? "

Then the Turtle having become angry, says, " The trouble-
some comrade whom they are taking is for thy mother."
So the Turtle's mouth was opened. Then the Turtle fell
on the ground. The two Storks left him and went away.

The Jackal having come running, after he looked saw
the Turtle, and turning and turning it over to eat, when he
tried to eat it the Turtle says, " I have now for a long time
been staying dried up without water. In that way you
cannot eat me. Having gone with me to a place where
there is water and put me in it, should I become soaked
you will be able to eat me," he said to the Jackal.

Then the Jackal having taken hold of the Turtle with
his mouth, and placed it in a pond containing water, when
he had been treading on it [to prevent it from escaping]
for a little time, the Turtle says, " Now every place is
soaked. Under the sole of your foot. Sir, I have not got
wet. Should you raise the sole of your foot a little it would
be good," it said. So the Jackal raised the foot a little.
Then the Turtle crept to the bottom of the mud. The
Jackal quickly seized the Turtle [by its leg] again.

After he had caught it the Turtle says, " The Jackal-
elder-brother being cheated has got hold of the Ketala
[plant] root." The Jackal-elder-brother quickly having let
go the Turtle, speedily got hold of the Ketala root that
was near by. Then the Jackal being unable [to go deeper],
the Turtle going yet a little further in the water, says,
" Bola ! Even to-day you are Jackals ! When didst
thou eat us ? "

Many Jackals prated to the Jackal about the Turtle.
On account of the Jackal's being unable to eat the Turtle

236 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

or to seize it, he became much ashamed. While he was
there, having contrived and contrived a trick, saying he
must somehow or other kill the Turtle, another Jackal
came there to drink water. Having drunk water, he asks
the other Jackal, " What, friend, are you thinking of and
clenching your nails about ? "

Then the Jackal who was unable to seize the Turtle,
says, " Friend, a Turtle cheated me, and went into this
pond. Having become angry on account of that, I am
looking for it in order to kill that one should that one come
onto the land," he said to the other Jackal.

That Jackal says, " Ae, Bola ! Fool ! How many
Turtles are there yet in the pond ? How canst thou seek
out the one that cheated thee ? " the Jackal that came to
drink water said.

Every day in that manner this Jackal comes to the pond
to drink water. One day when he came to drink water,
having seen that a crowd of Turtles are grimacing on the
lotus, the Jackal says, " If ye and we be friends, how much
advantage we can gain by it ! " Having spoken thus on
that day the Jackal went away.

Having gone, when he met the Jackal whom the Turtle
cheated he said, " Friend, having met with a crowd of
Turtles while they were in the pond to-day, I spoke words
[to them]. We must devise together a trick to kill them."
Having said this the two Jackals talked together.

Again, on a day when the Jackal went to the pond to
drink water, having seen in the [same] way as on that day
the Turtles grimacing on the lotus, the Jackal says, " How
can ye and we remain in this manner ? Should ye and we,
both parties, take wives [from each other] wouldn't it be
good ? " the Jackal asked the Turtles.

Then the Turtles say, " If so, indeed how good it would
be!"

" Then one day we will come and speak with ye [about]
the wedding." Having said this the Jackal went away.

Having gone he says to the Jackals, " [After] speaking
words with the Turtles who are in that pond regarding
taking and giving wives I have come away."

THE JACKAL AND THE TURTLE 237

Then the other Jackals said, " It is very good. Some
day let us all go." So they spoke.

Again on a day, after the Jackal had gone to the pond
to drink water, on that day, having seen that Turtles more
than on the other day were [there], he says, " Friends,
to-day about all of you are [here]. Because of it, on what
day will it be good to come and summon [our wives] ? " he
asked.

" We will say in a day or two days," they said.

The Jackal having drunk water and having gone, said
to the other Jackals, " They said they will say in a day or
two days [on which day we are to go to summon our wives]."

Then the Jackal whom the Turtle cheated said, " In
some way or other we must completely destroy them.
Friends, somehow or other having gone and spoken about
this wedding, make ready quickly," he said.

On the following day this Jackal went to drink water,
and to speak about the wedding. Having drunk water
the Jackal asked the Turtles, " When will it be good to
come ? "

" To-morrow will be good," the Turtles said.

Then the Jackal says, " We shall all come. All ye also
having got ready be present."

Having said this, the Jackal quickly came running, and
after all the Jackals had collected together, said, " Let
nobody of ye go anywhere to-morrow. We must all go to
call the Turtles for the wedding, and return."

The Jackal whom the Turtle cheated said, " Somehow
or other having sought out the Turtle that cheated me and
called it to the wedding, I must torture it and kill it," he
said.

After that, all the Jackals having collected together,
started to go to call the Turtles for the wedding. Having
set off, the Jackal who drank water at the pond having
gone in front to invite the Turtles [to be ready], said, " They
are coming to summon you to the wedding. All ye having
prepared for it be pleased to be quite ready," he said.

Then all the Turtles having come and climbed onto the
branches of trees fallen in the pond, were looking out.

238 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The Jackal who came with the message having gone back
near the Jackals, said, " All the Turtles having climbed on
the trees and the branches, are present looking out till we
come."

Well then, all the Jackals having started, while they
were going with the tom-tom beaters, the Jackal who drank
water at the pond said, " You stay here. I will go and
look if the Turtles are coming or what."

Having gone, after he looked [he saw that] all the Turtles
in the trees, more than the Jackals, all having climbed
onto the branches, were looking out. Having seen [this]
the Jackal says, " Haven't you tom-toms, drums, kettle-
drums ? " the Jackal asked the Turtles. " There ! we
indeed are coming beating well the tom-toms, kettle-drums,
drums, and [blowing] trumpets," he said.

Then the Turtle Chief said, " Beat our tom-toms," he said.

Then all the Turtles began to beat tom-toms by singing,
" Gaja, Gaja ; Gora, Gora ; Baka, Baka," enough to des-
troy the ears.

Then the Jackal having come running to the front of
the Jackals, said, "All the Turtles having climbed com-
pletely along the branches of the trees are there. We all
having gone near the Turtles must go along the trees that
we can mount onto, and seize the Turtles," he said.

Then the Jackal Chief said, " Not so. As we come very
near the Turtles beat this tom-tom verse," he said. Then
all at a leap having jumped onto the trees where the Turtles
are he told them to seize them. The very tom-tom verse
that he told the tom-tom beaters to beat on the tom-toms
is, " Ehe ; Kata, kata, kata. Ehe ; Kata, kata, kata."

Then when they were far off, the Turtles having seen the
Jackals coming, said, " There they are, Bola. Now then,
get ready."

As they were coming near, beating the tom-toms, " Ehe ;
Kata, kata, kata. Ehe ; Kata, kata, kata," the Turtles
having heard all this, all the Turtles began to cry out, " Baka,
Baka," as they came near.

Then, as they came very near, singing " Baka, Baka,"
all the Turtles sprang into the pond [and disappeared].

THE JACKAL AND THE TURTLE 239

On account of this thing that they did, the Jackals be-
came still more ashamed. " These Cattle-Turtles have
cheated us," they said ; and having become angry, went away.

The way the Jackal-artificers called the Turtles to the
wedding is good.

Village Vaedda of Bintaenna.

The f.rit part of this tale is found in the Jataka story No. 215
(vol. ii, p. 123). In it two Kansas or sacred Geese asked a Turtle
to accompany them to their home, a golden cave in the Himalayas.
They carried it like the Storks. The Jackal is not introduced at all.
Some village children saw the Turtle in the air, and made a simple
remark to that effect. The Turtle, wishing to reply, opened its
mouth, and was smashed by falling in the King's court-yard.

In the Panchatantra (Dubois), as well as in a variant of the North-
western Province of Ceylon, and elsewhere in the island, the story
does not end at this point, but with the escape of the Turtle after
the Jackal had soaked it in the water.

In the Kathd Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 37, the story ends
with the fall of the Turtle, which was being carried to a lake in
which there was water. In this case, as in the Jataka story, the
point to be illustrated only required the Turtle to fall and be killed.

The variant of the North-western Province is practically
identical with the first part of the Vaedda tale, but the
drought is stated to have lasted for seven years. The
Jackal was about to howl, and on turning his head upward
for the purpose saw two Black Storks carrying the Turtle.

He asked, " Where are you taking a present ? " (referring
to the way in which a considerable load is sometimes carried
slung on a stick, the ends of which rest upon the shoulders
of two men, one in front and the other behind). The Turtle
replied, " For your mother's head." When the Jackal
tried to eat it he heard the Turtle laughing inside the shell,
and said, " Friend, what are you laughing at ? " The
Turtle said, " I am laughing at your thinking you can eat
me in that way. I have been dried up for seven years,
and if you want to eat me you rnust first soak me in water."
The Jackal did this, and the Turtle escaped in the way
related by the Vaeddas.

The rest of the story is, I think, found only among the Vaeddas.
Although it is clear that it must have been invented by the settled
inhabitants of villages, the marriage custom according to which the

240 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

bride was to be taken to the bridegroom's house to be married is
not that of the modern Sinhalese, but is in accordance with the
story related in the MahSvansa, i, p. 33, regarding the marriage of
a Vaedi Princess at the time of Wijaya's landing in Ceylon. The
Sinhalese custom is found in the story of the Glass Princess (No. 4),
in which six Princes accompanied by their parents, went to their
brides' City to be married, returning home with their brides after-
wards.

It is probable that the original story ended with the escape of the
Turtle from the Jackal after it was placed in the water. It is a folk-
tale, and not a story written to illustrate a maxim. It appears to
have been invented to show the folk-lore superiority of the Turtle's
intelligence over that of the Jackal. The Turtle is always repre-
sented as a very clever animal, not only because of the ease with
which he can protect himself by withdrawing his head and legs
inside the shell — of which Mr. A. Clark, formerly of the Forest
Department of Ceylon, and I once had an amusing illustration at a
pool in the Kanakarayan-aVu, when his bull-terrier made frantic
attempts to kill one, like the Jackal — but possibly also because, as
I was told of another amphibious animal in West Africa, " he live
both in the water and on the land, therefore he knows the things
of both the land and the water."

In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 134, the story as far as the escape of
the Turtle was given by Mr. H. A. Pieris, the animals concerned
being wrongly termed Tortoise, Cranes, and Fox ; the two latter
animals are not found in Ceylon. To this the Editor added the
story found in the Hitopadesa, in which the animals were a Turtle
and two Geese, which agreed to carry the Turtle to another lake
in order that it might not be killed by some fishermen next day.
Some herdsmen's boys saw it, and remarked that if it fell they
would cook and eat it. The Turtle replied, " You shall eat ashes,"
fell down, and was killed by the men.

In the Katha Sarit S&gara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 37, the birds were
" Swans " (probably Kansas, which are always represented as geese
in ancient carvings in Ceylon). Some men made remarks to each
other on the strange object that was being carried, and the Turtle,
on asking the birds what the chattering was about, fell and was
killed by the men.

In Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 310, a Jackal escaped from an
Alligator [Crocodile] in the same manner as the Turtle.

In Wide-Awahe Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 155 — Tales of the
Punjab, p. 147 — ?!a. Iguana or Monitor Lizard outwitted a Jackal
who bad caught him by the tail as he was entering the hole in which
he lived. Both pulled for a long time without any result. At last
the Lizard said he gave in, and requested the Jackal to allow him
to turn round and come out. When released he disappeared into
the hole.

No. 37

The Lion and the Turtle

IN a jungle there is a Lion King. While he was there,
one day there was no prey for the Lion King when
he was walking about seeking it. He obtained nothing as
prey that day. As the Lion through fatigue was staying
below a great big tree, avoiding the heat, he went to sleep.

While he was sleeping, a Turtle came out [of the bushes],
having set off to go away from there. As he was going
along, a " sara, sara " sound was heard, having been made
by the dry leaves. The Lion King having opened his eyes ^
at the sound of this Turtle's going, after he had looked saw
the Turtle, and having become angry sprang at once near
the Turtle. Having said, " Bola ! What art thou going
on a rapid journey in this manner for ? Didst thou not
see that I am [here] ? " the Lion King pushed against the
Turtle.

Then the Turtle says, " Lord who will become a thou-
sand Buddhas [in future existences], I didn't come to cause
you alarm. Sir ; I am walking to procure my food," the
Turtle said to the Lion King.

" What art thou going to seek and eat in this forest ? "
the Lion asked.

Then the Turtle says, " O Lord, I am walking to obtain
and eat any sort of things that I can eat," the Turtle said.

Then anger having gone to the Lion, he sprang to eat
the Turtle. Then the Turtle, having brought his head
inside, became like a stone. After he became thus, the
Lion turning the Turtle to that side and to this side, and
having clawed him arid bitten him, looked at him, having

1 Aehae aeragassi.

241 „

242 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

been unable to do anything to him. After he had been
looking the Lion says, " Having been like a what-is-it stone,
didn't you preach to me in overbearing words ? "

When he had been looking at him a little time, as the
Turtle, having put his head outside again, was going off,
the Lion says, " Bola, art thou a being who can do any-
thing ? "

" O Lord, the things that you. Sir, can do you do. I
do the things that I can do," the Turtle said.

" Bola, canst thou, who endest by drawing slowly and
slowly what is like a lump of stone, run, jump, roar, swim
in rivers that way and this way, equal to me ? And what
canst thou do to me, who having roared and caused the
bottom of the ears to burst, and killed every animal, eats
it ? " the Lion said.

Then the Turtle says, " You, Sir, frighten and eat even
all. You cannot frighten and kill, nor eat, me except on
land. In the water, you, Sir, cannot swim that side and
this side equal to me," the Turtle said to the Lion.

After the Lion, having become angry, said, " Wilt thou
come to swim that side and this side with me ? If not, I
will put thee under a large stone," the Turtle having become
afraid that he would kill him, having given his word to
swim with the Lion that side and this side in a river, went
near the river.

Having gone [there] the Turtle met with yet a Turtle,
and said, " Friend, a great trouble has befallen me to-day."
After the friendly Turtle asked, " What is it, friend ? " the
other Turtle says, " The Lion King has come and wagered
with me to swim that side and this side," he said.

Then the Turtle says, " Why are you afraid of that,
friend ? Say, ' It is good.' I will tell you a good trick ;
you act in that way. What is it ? You place a red flower
in your mouth. I will place a red flower in my mouth.
You having been on this side with the Lion King, and
having sprung into the river and hidden at the bottom of
the water very near there, remain [there]. I having hidden
near the river bank on that side will be [there]. The Lion
King having come swimming, as he is going to land on that

THE LION AND THE TURTLE 243

side, I being near the river bank and having said, ' Kur-
marsha,' 1 taking the flower will land [before him]. You
also in that way having been hidden near the bank on this
side, as the Lion King is going to land, having said, ' Kur-
marsha,' quickly land [before him]." The friendly Turtle
having said [this], hid at the bottom of the water near the
bank on that side of the river.

The Turtle that spoke with the Lion went near the Lion.
Then the Lion asks, " Art thou coming to swim ? " he
. asked.

" Yes, Your Majesty," the Turtle said.

Then [after they had gone to the river] the Lion said to
the Turtle, " Thou, having swum in front, be off. I having
come slowly shall get in front of thee," he said.

Then the Turtle, also holding a red flower in his mouth,
having descended to the river, and having gone a little far,
got hid at the bottom of the water. While it was hidden,
as the Lion was going swimming near the river bank, the
other Turtle which stopped at that side, having got in
front before the Lion landed, and said, " Kurmarsha,"
having placed a red flower also in his mouth, landed on the
river bank at once.

The Lion having seen him, again sprang into the river.
As he came to this side, the Turtle that remained at the
bank at this side, having got in front of the Lion at once,
taking the flower also, said, " Kurmarsha," and landed.

Again the Lion swam to the other side. In that very
way the Turtle having been there and said, " Kurmarsha,"
landed [in front of him].

Thus, in that way, when swimming seven or eight times,
the Lion, who was without even any prey that day, having
become unable to swim, and being without strength in the
middle of the river, died.

Village Vaeddd of Bintaenna.

* Apparently this is Kiirma, turtle + marsha, ./mrish. The
meaning would be " Permit the Turtle " (to precede you). In Th*
Orientalist, vol. i, p. 87, in which this part of the story is also given,
it is stated that there is a saying, Kurmaya prativadena sinhasya
maranan yathd, " As the death of ^the lion by the ° reply
[? Kurmarsha] of the turtle."

244 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

In a variant of the North-western Province, the Lion
lived in a cave, and met the Turtle when he went to the
river to drink. He told the Turtle that it was unable to
travel quickly because it always lived in one place. The
Turtle shrugged its shoulders, and replied, " Can you travel
better than I ? " The Lion challenged it to race with him,
and the Turtle accepted the challenge, fixing the time eight
days later.

The race of the two animals was not across the river, but
along it, a series of Turtles having been stationed at various
points where it was arranged that the Lion should come to
the bank and call out, " Friend." At each place a Turtle
rose on hearing this, and said, " What is it, friend ? " At
the fifth stage, the Lion leapt over two stages as quickly
as one, and broke his neck.

The resemblance of the race in this variant to that between Brer
Rabbit and Brer Tarrypin in Uncle Remus is striking ; it even
extends to the number of stages, five in both stories.

In The Orientalist, vol. i, pp. 87,88, Mr. W. Goonetilleke gave a
variant from Siam, by Herr A. Bastian, in which the animals were
the Garuda [or Rukh] and the Turtle ; and two others by Lord
Stanmore, from Fiji, where the animals were a Crane and a Crab
in one instance, and a Crane and a Butterfly in the other, the insect
being perched on the bird's back during the race.

Part II

STORIES TOLD

OF OR BY

THE LOWER CASTES

No. 38
The Monkey and the Weaver-bird

IN the midst of a forest there were a Wandura (a large
grey Monkey, Setnnopiihecus) and a Weaver-bird.

One day the Monkey came to the tree in which the Weaver-
bird lodged, and after that a great rain-storm began. The
Weaver-bird without getting wet remained in much com-
fort m its nest ; the Monkey stayed in a fork of the tree,
getting thoroughly soaked.

Then the Weaver-bird said, " Why does a person en-
dowed with' hands and feet, and strength, like thee, get
soaked in this rain ? Such a small animal as I am having
built a house stays in it without getting wet.- Not a drop
of rain leaks into it. If I were equal to thee I should build
a good house,"

On account of that remark the Monkey became angry,
and saying, " What is my business to thee ? " broke down
the nest of the Weaver-bird.

Then the Weaver-bird went to the [Monkey] King, and
instituted an action [against the Monkey]. Afterwards,
orders were issued by the King to seize the Monkey. After
remaining in concealment, the Monkey, thinking, " If I
should be caught they will kill me," plucked a Jak fruit,
and went with it to the King. After that [the King] caused
the Weaver-bird to be brought, so that he might try the
case.

As he was inquiring into the case, it came to be accepted
that on account of his breaking down the nest the fault lay
with the Monkey. Then the Monkey said, " The action is
coming to an end. Will the Maharaja be pleased to look
behind me ? "

247

^48 VILLAGE rOLK-TALES 0? CEYLOM

At that very time, when the King having considered [his
judgment], looked around, he saw that there was a Jak
fruit behind the Monkey. Then the King, thinking, " The
Jak fruit has been brought to be given to me for the sake
of obtaining my favour," said to the WeaVer-bird, " The
fault is in thy hands. Whether he gets soaked or however
he may be, it is no affair of thine."

Having said this, the King drove her away ; and the
Monkey, having given him the Jak fruit, went away.

At that time animals were able to talk.

Potter. North-western Province.

The first part of this story is given in the Hitopadesa, but not
the trial before the Monkey King.

No. 39

The Jackal Devatawa

IN a certain country there was a dead Elephant, it is
said. A Jackal having gone to eat the Elephant's
carcase, and having eaten and eaten a hole into the Elephant
from behind, passed inside it. While he was eating and
eating the carcase of the Elephant as he remained inside
it, the skin [dried and] became twisted up, and the path
by which the Jackal entered became closed.

A man who was a tom-tom beater was going near it,
taking a tom-tom for a devil-dance. Then among the
bones the sound of tom-tom beating was heard. So the
Jackal asked, " Who is going here ? "

The tom-tom beater said, " I am going to this devil-
dance."

The Jackal said, " What art thou going this way for,
without permission ? "

The tom-tom beater replied, " O Lord, I am going without
knowing about this [permission's being necessary]."

The Jackal asked, " What wilt thou obtain for the danc-
ing ? "

The tom-tom beater said, " I receive presents and the
like."

Then the Jackal said, " I will give thee a present better
than money. It is owing to thy good luck that thou hast
come this way. I am a Devatawa (deity) who is guarding
his own treasure here. If I am to give thee the treasure,
split one eye (end) of the tom-tom which is in thy hand,
and having filled it with water and brought it here, pour
it on this Elephant."

After that, the tom-tom beater having pluckpd out the

250 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

eye of the tom-tom, filling it with water brought it, and
poured it on the Elephant's dried up carcase. The Jackal,
also, sitting inside it, worked and worked it into the skin
with its muzzle. Having made the skin pliable it sprang
out, and went away.

When this man looked inside, no deity was there, but
there were many maggots. So the man, taking his broken
tom-tom, went home.

In a few days afterwards, a rain having fallen, the Ele-
phant's carcase floated, and went down into the water-
course. From the water-course it passed down to the
stream. A flock of crows covered the carcase. As they
were going eating and eating the dead body, it descended
into the river, and from the river it passed down to the
great sea. There the skin having rotted began to fall to
the bottom. After the crows had looked [around], there
was not even a tree [to be seen], and before they were able
to fly to a place where there were trees their wings were
broken, and they died.

Washerman. North-western Province.

A variant related in another village is nearly the same.
Some tom-tom beaters passing the Elephant's carcase were
accosted by the jackal, to whom they replied that they
were going to " a poya tom-tom beating," that is, one given
on the Buddhist sabbath, at the quarter of the moon.
When he inquired what profit they would get from it, they
stated that they would receive cakes and milk-rice. " You
don't want cakes and milk-rice," he said, " I will give you
gold. Bring water to this Elephant's carcase." They did
so, breaking open the " eyes " of their tom-toms for the
purpose, and the Jackal escaped.

The story concludes : " For the tom-tom beaters there
was neither gold, nor cakes and milk-rice. Having broken
their tom-toms, lamenting and lamenting they went to
their village."

In the Jataka story No. 148 (vol. i, p. 315), a Jackal became im-
prisoned in the same way, but escaped when a tempest soaked the
skin. The tale is also given in No. 490 (vol. iv, p. 206).

THE JACKAL DEVATAWA 251

In the Katha Sarit SSgara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 77, a man crept
inside the sldn of an Elephant from which jackals had eaten the
flesh. A rain-storm caused it to contract (?) and closed the aper-
ture. The flood carried it into the Ganges and thence to the sea.
There a Garuda [Rukh] picked it up, and took it to Ceylon, where
the man escaped when it tore open the hide. I insert the following
as an account of the supposed state of things in Ceylon under the
rule of Vibhisana, the Rakshasa King of Ceylon, after the death of
Ravana : " Two Rakshasas contemplated him from a distance
with feehngs of fear." They reported his arrival to Vibhisana, who
sent for him and entertained him in a friendly and hospitable man-
ner. When asked how he came to Ceylon, the Brahmana cunningly
replied that he had been sent by Vishnu, who had informed him
that Vibhisana would present him with wealth. He stayed some
time in the island, and was allowed a young Garuda on which to
ride about the country, and at last he was carried back to Mathura
by it.

In Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 179, a Jackal got inside a dead
bullock, and informed the scavengers who came to bury it that he
was the god of their village. They poured water on the hide, and
he escaped.

In Indian Folk Tales (Gordon), p. 61, a live Elephant swallowed
a Jackal. The Jackal fed on the heart and killed the Elephant,
but was imprisoned inside when the skin dried up. When the God
Mahadeo (Siva), who was passing, heard cries and inquired who
was there, the Jackal, after ascertaining who it 'tvas, said that he
was Sahadeo, father of Mahadeo, and induced the latter to prove
his identity by causing a heavy rainfall, owing to which the skin
was softened and he escaped.

STORIES OF THE TOIM-TOM BEATERS

It is said in the Southern Province that all tom-tom beaters
are fools. ^ In the North-western Province the same opinion
is held regarding some of them. To what extent it is justi-
fied I am unable to say, but an example which supported
the general notion fell under my own observation. Some
jungle was being cut for an irrigation channel, at the side
of an uncultivated field belonging to a tom-tom beaters'
village, and one of the men came to watch the progress of
the work. I questioned him regarding eggs. He stated at
first that only things which could fly laid eggs, but he ad-
mitted that this rule did not apply to crocodiles, lizards, and
snakes. About bats he was not certain, but thought they
do not lay eggs. Rats certainly do not lay them, he said.

I had seen a Green Bee-eater flying near us, and I ob-
served a small hole such as this bird makes as its nest-hole,
in the sandy ground. I drew his attention to it, and he at
once asserted that it was a rat-hole ; of that he had no
doubt whatever. " Well then, let us see if there are any
eggs in it," I said, knowing that it was then the breeding
season of the Bee-eaters.

He looked on, smiling ironically, while I got one of my
men to open the tunnel carefully. When he came to the
end, there on the sand, in a Httle saucer-shaped cavity, were
four shining, spherical white eggs of the bird. The man
was astonished, but was quite satisfied that they were rat's
eggs. " I saw them with my two eyes," he said to my
men, who all laughed at him.

The following stories were written for me as the foolish
doings traditionally attributed to the tom-tom beaters of a
village in the North-western Province. Apparently the
village is at the side of a rice field.

1 As in liidia, the tom-tom beaters were the weavers also in Cey-
lon, until cheap imported cloth put an end to weaving. In the
Folk Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 233, the " proverbial simplicity "
of weavers is mentioned, and in several stories in Indian Nights'
Entertainment (Swynnerton) their foolishness is the chief theme.
In the Jataka story No. 59 there is an account of a foolish tom-tom
beater boy also. See also the story No. 10 , in this volume.

No. 40

A Kadmbawa Man's Journey to Puttala m

IN order to go to Puttalam, a Kadambawa man having
yoked his bull in his cart, sent it in advance with the
cart, saying, " My bull knows the way to Puttalam." He
himself walked behind the cart.

The bull [being without guidance], having gone com-
pletely round the rice field, came again to the path leading
to the man's house. There the man's children came out,
saying, " Ade ! Has our father been to Puttalam and come
back ? "

The man [thinking he had come to another village] said,
" What are you saying ' Father ' to me for ? I am a
Kadambawa man. I am going to Puttalam." Then he
again sent on the bull in front [as before].
~- In the same manner as before, the bull having gone round
the rice field came again to the house. Then those children
saying, " Ade ! Has our father been to Puttalam and come
back ? " went on in front.

Then the man said, " Ha ! At each place that I go to,
the boys call me ' Father.' I am a Kadambawa man. I am
going to Puttalam. At a village on the road, also, certain
boys said ' Father ' to me." So saying, he again sent on the
bull in front.

In the same way as before, the bull turning round the rice
field came again to the village. Again the man's children
said, " Ade ! Has our father been to Puttalam and come
back ? Have you come on in front [of the others who
went] ? "

Then the man said, " Ha ! At each place that I go to,
the boys say ' Father ' to me. I am a Kadambawa man.

253

254 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

I am going to Puttalam. At two villages on the road the
boys called me ' Father.' "

As he was setting off to go again, the man's wife came and
spoke to him. Then the man having recognised that it was
his own house, unfastened the bull, and having sent it off to
eat food stayed quietly at home.

In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 102, there is a story by Mr. A. E. R.
Corea, in which a man who was going to a village in order to hire
out his bull, allowed the animal to take its own way while he trudged
behind it. The bull wandered about eating, and at last lay down
near a stream. The man being tired out also lay down, and fell
asleep. He was close to his own house, and was found by his chil-
dren when they went for firewood. When they spoke to him, he
denied that he was their father, and drove them away ; but his
wife afterwards came, and by means of her broom-stick convinced
him that he was at home.

No. 41

The Kadambawa Men and the Hares

THE Kadambawa men having gone to set nets, a great
many hares were caught in the nets. Afterwards the
meri, having seized the hares, doubled up the hind legs of
the hares at the joints, and the fore-legs at the joints, and
threw them on the ground, in order to make a heap of them
in one place afterwards. Then all the hares ran away into
the jungle.

After all the hares in the nets had been finished, when
they looked for the dead hares there was not even one hare.
Then the men were astonished at the coming to life of the
hares which they had killed, saying, " How thoroughly we
killed the hares ! " After having become fixed like stone
[with astonishment] until nightfall, they went in the evening
to their houses.

!Ct

No. 42

The Kadambawa Men and the Mouse-deer

THE Ka(Jambawa men having appointed a wedding-
[day], and having caught a great many Mouse-deer [for
eating at it], tied clappers on their necks hke those on goats,
and having made an enclosure put them in it, and came
away. The Mouse-deer escaped into the jungle.

Having gone to it on the wedding-day, when they looked
there was not one Mouse-deer left. Then the men, sa3nng,
" Ane ! The Mouse-deer that we reared have all gone,",
came back to the village, much astonished.

No. 43

The Kadambawa Men and the Bush

As the Ka(Jambawa men were going away with some
drums one night, to attend a devil-dance, they met
with a Wara ^ bush on the path, which looked like an
elephant. The men became afraid, thinking, " Maybe an
elephant has come onto the path." At the shaking of the
leaves of the Wara bush they said, " He is shaking his ears."
Being afraid to go past the elephant, they beat the drums
until it became light, to frighten the Wara bush. When
they looked after it became light, it was not an elephant ;
it was a Wara tree. After that, they came back to their
village. So they had neither the devil-dance nor went to
sleep.

' Calatropis gigantea.

No. 44

How the Kadambawa Men counted
Themselves

TWELVE Kadambawa men having gone to cut fence
Sticks, and having cut and tied up twelve bundles
of them, set them on end leaning against each other [before
carrying them home]. Then a man said, " Are our men all
right ? Have all come ? We must count and see."

Afterwards a man counted them. When he was counting
he only counted the other men, omitting himself. " There
are only eleven men ; there are twelve bundles of fence
sticks " he said.

Then another man saying, " Maybe yoti made a mistake,"
counted them again in the same way. He said, " This time
also there are eleven men ; there are indeed twelve bundles
of fence sticks."

Thus, in that manner each one of the twelve men counted
in the same way as at first. " There are eleven men and
twelve bundles offence-sticks. There is a man short," they
said, and they went into the jungle to look for him.

While they were in the chena jungle seeking and seeking,
a man of another village, hearing a loud noise of shouting
while he was going along the road, having come there to see
what it was, found these twelve men quarrelling over it.
Then this man asked, " What are you saying ? "

The men said, -^" Twelve of our men came to cut fence
sticks. There are now twelve bundles of sticks ; there are
only eleven men. A man is short yet."

When this man looked there were twelve men. So he
said, " All of you take each one his own bundle of fence
sticks." Then the twelve men having taken the twelve
bundles of sticks came to their village.

268

THE KADAMBAWA MEN'S COUNTING 259

In Indian Fables (Ramaswami Raju), p. 61, twelve pigs crossed
a stream, and counting themselves in the same way on the opposite
bank, thought that one had been drowned.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment ,(Swynnerton), p. 305, seven
Buneyr men [weavers] counted their number as six, and were so
delighted when a shepherd proved that there were seven that they
insisted on doing a month's free labour for him. Next day, how-
ever, one killed his mother in driving a fly ofi her face, and another
chopped ofi the heads of several goats for mocking him by chewing
their cud while he was eating, so he dispensed with the rest of their
services.

In the Adventures of the Guru Paramarta (Dubois, 1872) the Guru
and his five foolish disciples, after long delay because of the danger,
crossed a river in which the water was only knee-deep. On reaching
the far bank one of them counted the party several times, omitting
himself, and they concluded that one had been drowned in the river,
which they had heard was a treacherous one. They Is^mented, and
cursed the river, one after another, until a traveller arrived. When
he had heard their story he ofiered to restore the missing man to
them by means of magic, for which service they agreed to pay him
all the money they had, forty panams of gold. He said to the Guru,
" It is a very little thing in comparison with the service that I pro-
mise to render you. However, as you say it is all that you possess,
and as you are in other respects a good man who does not intend
any malice thereby, I consent." He set the six persons in a row,
and struck each one a good blow on the back with his stick as he
counted him in a loud voice.

In the Laughable Stories, of Bar-Hebraeus (Budge), the counting
tale is No. 569. A man counted his asses and found there were ten,
then having mounted on one he omitted it, and made the number
nine. He dismounted and found there were ten ; mounted again
and counted only nine. He got down again, and saw that there
were ten. Then saying, " Verily there is a devil in me, for whenever
I mount an ass I lose one of them," he went on foot for fear of losing
one permanently.

The counting incident is found in China also. In A String of
Chinese Peach-Stones, by W. A. Cornaby, p. 276, a stupid Yamun
underling who was taking a rascally monk to prison, kept counting
the things he had with him, " Bundle, umbrella, cangue (the heavy
wooden collar on the prisoner's neck), warrant, monk, myself."
On the way he got drunk and went to sleep. The monk took
advantage of the opportunity to shave his head and place the
cangue on his neck, after which he absconded. When the man
awoke, and began to count the things, he found everything there
but himself.

No. 45

The Kadambawa Men and the Dream

WHEN some Kadambawa men, having joined together,
were going away to Puttalam, it became night while
they were on the road. Having got a resting-place, and
cooked and eaten, while they were sleeping a tusk elephant
appeared to a man in a dream.

On the morning of the .following day the man said to the
other men, " Friends, last night I saw an evil dream."

The men asked, " What was in the dream ? "

The man said, " I saw a tusk elephant."

Then the men began to interpret the dream. They said,
" What is the meaning ? If there is a tusk elephant there
will be elephant's dung ; if elephant's dung, paddy [which
the elephant has eaten] ; if paddy, uncooked rice ; if un-
cooked rice, cooked rice ; if cooked rice, it is a thing [found
only] in the village. Therefore the elephant means the
village. Something must have happened. It is useless for
us to go on. Let us go back to the village." So all, weep-
ing and weeping, set out to return to the village.

As they came to the rice field of the village, the women
and boys of the village having heard the men coming crying
and crying aloud, said, " Ane ! Our men are coming cr5nng
and crying. What is it ? It will be a dreadful thing." So
the women and boys, having come from the houses to that
side of the field before those men came across, began to cry
also.

On seeing them, the man who saw the dream said to those
other men, " Look there ! Did I tell you falsely ? " Then
the men cried the more. Having seen it, these boys and
women, they also cried more and more. The two parties

i»0

THE KADAMBAWA MEN AND THE DREAM 261

having come quite near each other still cried. The women
and boys on that side of the stile [at the edge of the field],
these men on the field side of it, except that they cried said
nothing.

While they were crying and crying until it became night,
as a man from another village was going along the path he
heard this uproar, and came to see what it was. He asked
at the hand of the men, " What is it ? Who is dead ? "

Then the men, crying and crying, said, " Who is dead we
don't know."

After that, the man having gone near those women and
boys, asked, " What is it ? Who is dead ? "

Then those persons also said, crying and cr5dng, " Who is
dead we don't know."

Afterwards the man having stopped the crying of both
parties, when he had asked them about it, there was
nothing dreadful. So the man went away, and these men
and women and boys, they also went to their houses.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 348, a weaver
girl said to herself that it would be a good thing if she married in
her own village, but if she had a son and he were to die, how her
relatives and friends would lament ! The thought of it made her
cry. When her aunts and friends observed it they all cried too,
and her father and uncles and brothers coming up and seeing all
these people crying, also cried. When a neighbour asked the men
what it was about, who was dead ? they could not tell him, but
referred him to the women. He then learnt that these also did
not know, but cried because they saw the girl crying.

No. 46

The Four Tom-tom Beaters

THIS story is told in the Southern Province to illustrate
the foolishness of this caste.

Four Tom-tom Beaters when proceeding along a road
together, met a man of lower caste than themselves. Before
passing them he made an obeisance, and (as usual in such
cases) said, " Awasara," " Permission" — that is, " Have I
permission (to pass) ? " — and then walked away.

While the Tom-tom Beaters were going along afterwards
a dispute arose over it, each person claiming that he was the
one who had been addressed, and to whom the obeisance
had been made, as being the superior man of the party.
Each maintaining his own view, and being unable to settle
it in any other way, the four persons decided to refer the
matter to the man himself. They therefore turned back
and ran after him, and on overtaking him requested him to
state from which of them he had asked the permission. As
the question plainly indicated the sort of persons they were,
he replied, " From the biggest fool among you."

This left matters just where they were, as each one, in
order to prove his claim to the obeisance, then declared him-
self to be the greatest fool ; and at last they related their
foolish actions. These were pointless, and I did not pre-
serve the details. Each, however, had two wives, this being
one of the grounds on which all based their claims, and the
details they gave consisted of accounts of the ill-treatment
that they received from these women.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 65, a traveller
threw four pence to four weavers, each of whom claimed all the
money. A second traveller's reasonable suggestion that each should
take a penny weis rejected, and they ran after the man, and asked

THE FOUR TOM-TOM BEATERS 263

for whom he had given them. When he inquired which was the
wisest they told stories that only indicated their extreme stupidity,
and in the end he gave them four pence each, all being equal in this
respect.

The Abb6 Dubois gave a similar story from the Tamil of Southern
India, the men being four Brahmanas to whom a soldier said, " Sara-
nam, eiyar" ("Homage, Sir"). The four replied, " Asirvatam "
(" Benediction "), and the man went off. After disputing about
it, they ran after hiin for a league, and asked him whom he saluted.
He said, " Well, it is the biggest fool of four whom I intended to
salute." Eventually the matter was referred to the headmen of
the next village, who after hearing their accounts of their silly deeds,
decided that each one might claim superiority over the others.
" Thus," said they, " each one of you has gained his case." The
men were satisfied, as each had won.

In Folk-Tales of Hindustan (Shaik Chilli), p. i, there is a version
in which two men were saluted by an old woman as they passed
her. After a dispute over it, when they ran back and asked her
about it, she replied that she saluted the greater fool of the two.
Then they related their experiences to her, and she adjudged one
to be a bigger fool than the other.

No. 47

The Golden Tree

AT a certain city there is a King, it is said ; there are
three Princes of that King. The King, while sleep-
ing, saw in a dream that a Golden Tree sprang up, and on
that Golden Tree a Silver Flower blossomed. A Silver
Cock that was sitting on the Silver Flower crowed.

Afterwards the King caused the three Princes to be fetched.
When the eldest Prince had been brought he asked him,
" Son, can you explain this dream which I have had ? "

The Prince asked, " What appeared in the dream, Father-
King ? "

The King said, " A Golden Tree having been created, on it
a Silver Flower blossomed, and a Silver Cock crowed while
sitting upon the flower."

The Prince said, " Ane ! Father-King, I caimot interpret
it ; perhaps my two younger brothers will explain it."

Then the King having caused the next Prince to be fetched,
asked him, " Son, can you explain this dream ? "

The Prince asked, " Father-King, what appeared in the
dream ? "

The King told him the manner in which the things
appeared in the dream.

The Prince said, " Father-King, I cannot explain it ;
perhaps younger brother will interpret it."

Then the King having caused the youngest Prince to be
brought asked him, " Son, can you explain this dream ? "

The Prince asked, " Father-King, what appeared in the
dream ? "

The King told him the manner in which the things
appeared in the dream.

THE GOLDEN TREE 265

Then the Prince said, " O Lord, Your Majesty, I will
interpret that dream, but I must iirst go in search of the
explanation."

After that, the three Princes obtained leave of absence
for three years. Having got it, the three persons, cooking a
bundle of rice, and taking from their father permission to
depart, started to go in search of the interpretation. Having
gone on and on, they came to a junction of three roads. Hav-
ing arrived at it, and eaten the bundle of cooked rice, the
eldest Prince said, " I will go along this road ; you go on
those two roads," So the eldest Prince went along one
road, the second Prince went along another road, and the
youngest Prince went on the remaining road.

Having gone on and on, the youngest Prince arrived at
the house of a widow woman. The woman said, " Ane !
Son, what have you come here for ? We have not even
firewood for cooking." --

The Prince asked, " Why, mother, is that ? "

The widow woman said, " There is a Yaka in the jungle in
which is the firewood. The Yaka has now eaten all the
people of this city ; few people are now in it."

The Prince asked, " How does that Yaka seize the men ? "

The widow woman said, " When they go to the jungle
and are cutting firewood, he comes saying ' Hu,' and eats
them."

Afterwards the Prince, taking his sword, went to the
jungle, and chopped a piece of firewood. The Yaka came,
saying " Hu." Then the Prince chopped at the Yaka with
that very sword, and the Yaka died there. After that, the
Prince, taking a bundle of firewood, returned to the house
of the widow woman.

The widow woman asked, " Son, did you meet with the
Yaka ? "

The Prince said, " I met with him ; I killed the Yaka."

Then having cooked with the firewood, she gave the
Prince to eat.

On the morning of the following day the King went to the
jungle, and chopped firewood. That day the Yaka did not
come, saying " Hu." Afterwards, through the Yaka's

266 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

not sa5dng " Hu," the King went to look for him, and saw
that the Yaka was dead. So the King returned to the city,
and saying, " I must find now, in a moment, the man who
killed the Yaka," caused proclamation to be made by beat
of tom-toms to that effect.

Having heard it, this widow woman, summoning the
Prince, went to the palace, and told the King that he had
killed the Yaka. After that the King asked at the hand
of the Prince, " How did you kill the Yaka ? "

The Prince said, " I went to the jungle, and while I was
chopping firewood the Yaka having come cr5ring " Hu,"
sprang onto me. Then I speedily chopped at him and killed
him." Having heard this, the Kinggave the Prince a district
of that kingdom, and an elephant's load of goods.

Afterwards the Prince gave all those things to the widow
woman, and having gone away to another city, came to the
house of a widow-mother. Having arrived there, the Prince
said to her, " Ane ! Mother, you must give me a resting-
place to-day."

The widow-mother said, " I can indeed give you a resting-
place, but there is no place to sleep in. You cannot sleep
in the veranda ; a light falls there during the night, and
any person who sees that light dies. Nobody can stop
the light. In order to stop it, the King has made public
proclamation by beat of tom-toms that to any person who
stops it he will give an elephant's load of goods, and a district
of the kingdom."

The Prince asked her, " Mother, where does the light fall
first ? "

The widow-mother said, " In an open grass field in the
middle of the city."

The Prince then said, " If so, go and tell the King to fix
a raised platform at the place where the light falls, and having
placed there a winnowing basket made of cow-dung, and a
large pot of water, to come away. I will go there to-night
and stop it."

So the widow-mother went and told the King. After that,
the King prepared the things in that very manner, and came
away.

THE GOLDEN TREE 267

In the evening, the Prince, having eaten food, went onto
the platform. Near midnight, while he was there the light
fell there. When the Prince looked, the Naga King of the
world of the Nagas, having come there, had ejected from his
mouth the Cobra Stone, and having gone far away was
eating food [as a cobra].

Then this Prince put the cow-dung winnowing basket on
the stone, whereupon the Naga King came crying out to the
water-pot, taking it for the person [who had done it]. The
Prince then chopped at him with his sword, and the Naga
King died. After that, taking the Cobra Stone, the Prince
washed it with water from the pot, and put it away in the
waist pocket of his cloth.

While he was there it became light. Then the King came
to see if he had stopped the light. When he looked he saw
that the cobra was lying in a heap. The King asked at the
hand of the Prince, " Did you stop the light ? " The Prince
said, " Look there ! The very one that made the light has
been killed there." Afterwards the King gave the Prince an
elephant's load of goods, and a district of that kingdom.

Afterwards, the Prince having given to the widow woman
all the things that had been given to him, went along the
path on which the Naga King had come, to the world of the
Nagas. When he got there, all the three Princesses of the
Naga King whom he had killed were there, sitting in one
spot.

The Princesses said to this Prince, " What have you come
for ? Should our father the King return now he will eat
yo-u."

The Prince saying, "Your father the King cannot come.
I have come here after kilUng your father the King," showed
them the Cobra Stone.

Then the Princesses asked, " What have you come here
for ? "

The Prince said, " I have come on account of a sooth-
saying, in order to get it explained."

The Princesses asked, " What is the sooth ? "

The Prince said, " At the time when our father the King
was sleeping, a Golden Tree having sprimg up, and a Silver

268 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Flower having blossomed on it, a Silver Cock which was
sitting upon the flower crowed."

The three Princesses said, " We cannot explain it here.
Let us go to your father the King."

The Prince said " Ha," and the three Princesses and the
Prince set off to come to him.

They came to the junction of the three roads at which at
first the three Princes separated. Having arrived there they
went along the road on which the eldest brother of the Prince
had gone, and having met with him the Prince said, " Let
us go back, elder brother, these three Princesses will explain
the dream " ; so they returned. Then they all went along
the road on which the next brother had gone, and having
found hira the Prince said, " Let us go back."

Having summoned him to go with them, those three
Princes and the three Princesses, six persons, having met
together in this manner, came to the Princes' city. Having
arrived there, this youngest Prince caused their father the
King to be called. So the King came to them.

Then these three Princesses who had come from the world
of the Nagas said to this youngest Prince, " Cause us three
persons to stand at the thread " (that is, to toe the line). So
this Prince caused them to stand at the thread.

Then the three Princesses said, " Cuf off our three heads at
one stroke." So this youngest Prince cut off their three
heads at one stroke. Thereupon the Golden Tree was
created, and the Silver Flower having blossomed on it,
the Silver Cock that was sitting on the top of the flower
crowed.

Then this youngest Prince chopped down the Golden Tree
with his sword, and the three Princesses came to life again.
Having come to hfe, the three Princesses asked at the hand
of the King, the father of the Princes, " Was it thus in the
dream that appeared to you ? " The King said " Yes."
Then the three Princesses told him that they were the Golden
Tree, and the Silver Flower, and the Silver Cock.

After that, the three Princesses, having been married to
the three Princes, remained there.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

THE GOLDEN TREE 269

The Cobra King with the gem, a diamond, which he laid down
while feeding, and swallowed afterwards, occurs in Old Deccan Days
(Frere), p. 36. A girl, disguised as a Prince, hung in a tree a large
iron trap fitted with knives underneath. Below it she scattered
flowers and sweet scents " such as cobras love," and when the Cobra
came at night she dropped the trap on him, and killed him. When
she went to wash the diamond in the lake, the water on being touched
by it rolled aside, and revealed a path which led to the garden at
the Cobra's palace. In the garden she found a tree with a silver
stem, golden leaves, and clusters of pearls as fruits. In the end,
the Cobra's daughter came away with her.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 18, a Cobra rose out of a tank,
with a brilliant gem on its hood, which shone "like a thousand
diamonds," and lit up everything around. The snake put it down
and went in search of food, and swallowed the two horses of a Prince
and his friend, the son of the Minister, who were belated, and sit-
ting in a tree. While the snake was at some distance, the Minister's
son descended, covered the gem with horse dung, and climbed back.
The snake rushed to the spot, but could not find the gem, and eventu-
ally died. Next morning they descended, washed the gem in water,
and saw by its light a palace under the water, in which they found
a Princess whom the Prince married.

In the jataka story No. 253 (vol. ii, p. 197) we learn that the
NS,ga King called Mani-Kantha, " Jewel-throat," appears to have
kept the gem in his throat. He said —

Rich food and drink in plenty I can have
By means of this fine jewel which you crave.

In the story No. 543 (vol. vi, p. 94), the Naga gem is mentioned
as " the jewel which grants all desires." Naga youths are described
as placing it on a hillock of sand, and " playing all night in the water
by its radiance." One on the head of the Naga King is referred to
on p. 97 as being one which, " bright-red Uke a lady-bird, glows on
his head a diadem."

In the Panchatantra (Dubois), three jogis when killed while eating
became three large copper pots filled with gold and valuable jewels.

In Wide- Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 176 — Tales of the
Punjab (Steel), p. 166 — a Princess was brought to life by cutting
off, at one blow of the Sword, the heads of a pair of ducks.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. i., p. 115, in a Bengal story by
Mr. G. H. Damant, a King dreamt of a silver tree, with golden
bra,nches, diamond leaves, and pearl fruits ; peacocks were plajdng
in the branches and eating the fruits. The tree was a girl, im-
prisoned by Rakshasas. When a Prince cut her in two she became
the tree ; when he dropped the knife she took her own shape agaiq.

No. 48
The Seven Princesses

IN a certain country there are a King and a Queen, it is
said ; there are seven Princesses [the daughters] of
the King. A Prince younger than those seven is born.

The King went to a war, and having gone there the King
was defeated in the war. When he returned, the royal
food was not made ready for the King. Having arrived, he
asked the Queen, " Why did you not prepare the royal food
for me ? "

Then the Queen said, " I cannot bring up your children,
and prepare the royal food for you also."

The King asked, " Why ? What have the Princesses
done ? "

The Queen replied, " They go to the river, and after bath-
ing there come back and rub oil on their heads, and comb
their hair, [instead of assisting me to prepare the food]."

On account of that the King settled to behead the seven
royal Princesses next day.

The Queen having cooked a bundle of rice and given it to
those seven said, " Go to any place you like, or the King
will behead you to-morrow."

After that, they went off to the river, and after sitting
there and eating the bimdle of rice, the seven went away.

Having gone on and on, they went to the house of a
Rakshasa. When they got there the Rakshasa was not at
home. The seven persons asked for and obtained a resting
place from the Rakshasi (female Rakshasa). Then the
youngest Princess said, " We have no food ; give us some-
thing to cook." So the Rakshasi gave them a little paddy.
The youngest Princess, taking the paddy, said to the other

THE SEVEN PRINCESSES 271

six Princesses, " Elder sisters, come and pound this small
quantity of paddy." The six persons refused.

After that, the Princess having pounded it, when she went
out to winnow it saw that there was a heap of human bones
behind the house. The Princess bearing that in mind win-
nowed it, and returned without speaking about them. Then
she called the Princesses to come and cook it ; they did not
come.

Afterwards the Princess having cooked, summoned those
six persons to eat the rice. The six persons refused. There-
upon the Princess fed the six Princesses [by dividing the rice
and giving each one her share of it].

Now, in the evening the seven Princesses went to sleep.
There were seven girls at the house, the daughters of the
Rakshasa, and the seven wore white clothes. The seven
Princesses wore blue clothes. Then the youngest Princess
having awoke in the night, took the seven white cloths of
the seven Rakshasa girls, and put them on the Princesses,
placing the dark cloths of the Princesses on the girls.

The Rakshasa having returned during the night, and
having learnt from his wife of the arrival of the Princesses,
put one of the girls out of those who wore the dark cloths,
in a large cooking-pot, and having boiled her the Rakshasa
ate his own daughter.

After seeing this, when the Rakshasa had gone to sleep,
the little Princess, awaking those six Princesses, told them
about it, and all the Princesses escaped together during the
night. Having come to a river they remained there lying on
a sandbank.

A King having come that way while they were there,
asked, " Are you Yakas or human beings ? "

The Princesses asked, " Is it a Yak5 or a human being who
asks ? "

The King replied, " It is indeed a human being who asks,
not a Yaka."

Then the Princesses said, " We indeed are human beings,
not Yakas," [and they told him how they had escaped from
the house of the Rakshasa and had come there]*

On hearing this the King said, " Can you go with me ? "

272 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The Princesses having said, " We can," went with the King
to his palace, and became his Queens. ^

On the night of the following day, a daughter of the
Rakshasa, having heard how the King had taken away the
Princesses,came there, and remained lying on the sandbank.

On the next day, also, the King having come that way
asked, '■* Are you a Yaka or a human being ? "

The Rakshasa's daugl;ter said, " Is it a Yaka or a human
being who asks ? "

The King repUed, " It is indeed a human being who asks,
not a Yaka."

The Rakshasa's daughter said, " I also am indeed a human
being, not a Yaka."

Then the King said, " If so, can you go with me ? "

The Rakshasi having said, " I can," went with the King to
the palace, [and also became his wife. J

After a long time had gone by, all those seven Princesses
were about to have children. One night, when the Princesses
were asleep, the Rakshasi plucked out the eyes of the seven
Princesses by magic, without awaking them, and having
done so hid all the eyes. Then when the seven Princesses,
having arisen, tried to go about, they were unable to go ;
they found that they could not see, so they lay down again.

Afterwards the King came to awake them. ' Why, are
you sleeping yet ? " he said.

The seven Princesses replied, " We are unable to get up ;
we have no eyes."

The King asked, " How have your eyes become displaced ?"

The seven Princesses said, " What has happened we do not
know ; they have been plucked out while we were asleep."

Afterwards the King having said, " If so, go where you
like," drove them away. The King allowed only the Rak-
shasi to stay.

The seven Princesses, having gone on and on, and having
fallen down at a pool, gave birth to seven Princes there.
Now, there was no food for the seven, so having cut up the
Prince of the eldest Princess, and divided the body into
seven parts, they ate for a day. On the next day, having

> This is prosaic Jove-making !

THE SEVEN PRINCESSES 273

cut up the next Princess's Prince and divided the body
they ate it. Thus, in that manner they ate the six Princes
of the six persons.

On the next day they settled to cut up the Prince of the
youngest Princess. Then the youngest Princess, on each of
the days having put away her portions of flesh, said, " You
shall not cut up my Prince. Look, here is your flesh," she
said, and gave them the six portions of flesh. The six per-
sons ate them.
[The narrator did not state how they subsisted after that.]
While this youngest Princess was rearing that Prince there,
after the Prince went to the chena jimgle one day, he met
with a Vaedda. The Vaedda said, " Let us go together to
the King's city." ^ The Prince said " Ha," and went

with him. There the King saw him, and being pleased with
him gave him food and the like. The Prince having eaten,
after he had come again to the pool the Prince's mother
asked, " Where did you go ? "

" The Prince said, " I went to the King's city."
His mother asked, " What did you go for ? "
The Prince replied, "I went 'simply'" (that is, for no
special purpose).

The Princess having said, " Aha ! " while she was still
there the Prince said, " I am going to the forge."

Having gone to the forge he said to the smith, " Make and
give me a bow and an arrow." The smith said, " Cut a
stick and come with it." So the Prince went to the chena
jungle to cut a stick. There was no suitable stick, but a
golden shoot had fallen down there, and having taken it he
gave it to the smith. The smith said, " This is not good ;
bring another stick," so the Prince went and brought
another stick. The smith made a good bow and arrow out
of the stick, and gave them to him.

Then the Prince having taken the bow and arrow, and shot
a deer, carried it to the city. After he had gone there they
gave him paddy, rice, flesh, and cooking-pots, and the like
for it. Then the Prince having taken them to the pool where
the Princesses were, gave them to his mother the Queen.

' Probably in order to sell deer's flesh there.

T

274 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Afterwards he shot a deer every day, and having taken it
to the city carried back to the Princesses the things that
he received for it.

One day having shot a deer, as he was about to take it
to the city the Prince's mother told him to carry it to the
palace. While he was there the Rakshasi saw him, and
having made inquiry got to know that he was the son of the
youngest Princess. So she said to him, " Take a letter to
our house for me," and gave it to him.

As the Prince was going that day taking the letter, it
became night, so he went to a city, and asked a widow woman
for a resting-place for the night. The woman of the house
said, " Ane ! What have you come to this city for ? A
Yaka has eaten all who were in this city. To-night he will
be coming for my daughter."

The Prince asked, " How will the Yaka come ? "

The woman said, " Four miles away he says, ' Hii ' ; then
a mile away he says, ' Hu ' ; and having come from there
near the stile at the road, he says, ' Hu'. "

The Prince asked, " Are there Kaekuna ^ seeds here ? "

The daughter said, " There are," and she gave him a sack-
ful of them.

Then he told the daughter, whose father had been the
King of the city, not to be afraid. " If the Yaka should
come I will kill him," he said. So the Prince went to
sleep, placing a sword that he had brought at his side, and
laying his head on the waist pocket of the Princess.

Afterwards the Yaka cried " Hu," when four miles away,
and tears fell from the eyes of the Princess on the breast
of the Prince when she heard it. Next, the Yaka cried
' ' Hii, ' ' when a mile away. The Princess having spoken words
to him on hearing it, he arose. " What is it ? " he asked.
The Princess said, " The Yaka is coming." Then the Prince
emptied the sack of Kaekuna seeds at the door, and took up
his sword.

As the Yaka, having come, was springing into the door-
way, he slipped on the seeds, and fell. Thereupon the
Prince cut and killed the Yaka with his sword, and having
' Canarium eeylamcum.

THE SEVEN PRINCESSES 275

put his "body in a well which was there, covered it up with
earth.

After the Prince had told the Princess about himself and
the seven Princesses, he said, " I must go now."

The Princess asked him, " What else is there in your
hands ? "

The Prince replied, " There is a letter which the Queen
has ordered me to take to her home."

The Princess having said, " Where is it ? Let me look at
it," took it, and when she looked at it there was written in it,
" Mother, eat the Prince who brings this letter, and eat the
eyes of those seven persons."

Then the Princess having torn up the letter, wrote another
letter, " Mother, having taken care of the Prince who brings
this letter, send medicine for the eyes of those seven persons."
Having written it she gave it into the hands of the Prince.

The Prince carrying the letter, and having taken a bundle
of cooked rice to eat on the way, went to the house of the
Rakshasi. As he was coming near the house he saw a
Rakshasi sitting at the road. When she saw him she said,
"The flesh of that one who is coming is for me."

The Prince asked, " What art thou saying ? " and gave the
letter to the Rakshasi, and asked for the medicine for the
eyes. After reading the letter the Rakshasi prepared
abundant food for him, and gave him lodgings that day.

Next day, showing him a tree, she said, " After you have
rubbed the juice of this tree on the eyes of the persons who
are blind, their eyes will become well."

The Prince said, " If so, tie a little of it in a packet and give
me it." So the Rakshasi having tied up a packet of it gave
him it.

Then the Prince having taken it back, rubbed it on the
eyes of those seven persons, and their eyes became well.

Afterwards, the Prince having gone with them to the city
where he killed the Yaka, married the Princess, and re-
mained there.

North-western Province.

This story does not appear to have been met with among the
people of Southern India, but variants are well-known in other

276 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OE CEYLON

parts of the country. In all these forms of the tale the wicked
Rakshasa Queen is killed.

In Indian Fairy Stories (Ganges Valley), by Miss Stokes, there
are two variants, pp. 51 and 176. In both, a demoness or R^kshasi
whom the King married induced him to cause the eyes of his other
seven Queens to be plucked out, and six of the infants whom
they bore were eaten, the seventh being saved as in Ceylon.

In one story the boy was sent for the milk of a tigress, an eagle's
feather, and night-growing rice ; in the other he went for rose-
water, flowers, and a dress. A friendly Fakir in one tale, and a
Princess in the other, substituted other letters for those in which
the demons or ogres were instructed to kill him, so that he was well
received and succeeded in his errands. In one case he got the blind
Queens' eyes, and ointment to make them as before ; in the other
he brought back magic water that cured them.

In Tales of the Punjab (Steel), p. 89, and Wide-Awake Stories (Steel
and Temple), p. 98, the demoness Queen persuaded the King to
give her the eyes of the seven Queens, which she strung as a necklace
for her mother. The seventh boy, who was shooting game for the
blind Queens' food, was sent for the eyes and got thirteen, one
having been eaten. The written message which requested that he
should be killed was changed by a Princess. On two other journeys
he obtained the Jogi's white cow which gave milk unceasingly, and
rice that bore a million-fold, by the aid of which the seven Queens
became the richest people in the kingdom. After he had married
the Princess who assisted him, the King heard the whole story, and
killed the demoness.

In. Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 117, the Rakshasa Queen, after
getting the seven Queens' eyes plucked out, ate up all the people,
and no one remained to attend on the King. At last the boy offered
his services. He always left before night, the time when the Ogress
caught her victims. She sent him to her mother for a melon, with
a letter which he tore up. He got back safely, bringing a bird in
which was the life of the Ogress Queen ; when he killed it she died.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. i, p. 170, there is a Bengal story
by Mr. G. H. Damant. The Ogress or Rakshasa Queen obtained
the eyes of the seven Queens from the King, and sent the boy for
sea-foam, and afterwards for rice grown in Ceylon, " the home of
the Rakshasas," that ripened in one day. A Sannyasi, or Hindu
religious mendicant, changed him into a kingfisher on one trip and
a parrot on the other, which brought the things, being re-converted
into a Prince on the way back. Lastly, he was sent to Ceylon for
a cow a cubit long and half a cubit high. The King paid him heavily
for getting these things, and for the last one was obliged to sell his
kingdom and give the proceeds to the boy. The Sannyasi instructed
him to conciliate a Rakshasi by addressing her as " Aunt," and to
deliver a pretended message from the Ogress Queen. He was well

THE SEVEN PRINCESSES 277

received, and learnt that the Rakshasas' lives were in a lemon and
the Ogress Queen's in a bird. He cut the lemon and thus killed all
the Rakshasas, brought back the blind Queens' eyes, and killed
the bird, and with it the Ogress Queen.

In Folk-Tales of Hindustan, Allahabad (Shaik Chilli), p. 105, the
seven Queens were thrown into a large dry well ; it ig not stated
that their eyes were plucked out. The seventh boy got his grand-
father, a carpenter, to make him a wooden flying horse. He was
sent for singing-water, magic rice, and news of the Rakshasa Queen's
relatives. He met a lion, a wolf, and various other savage animals,
which he appeased by addressing them as " Uncle," " Cousin," etc.
A kind Yogi changed his letter, and he was welcomed by the Rak-
shasas, whose lives he learnt were in a number of birds. These he
killed, taking back a pea-hen in which lay the life of the Ogress
Queen, as well as the magic water and rice. Each of the animals
sent a cub with him, and on his return these performed a dance,
at the end of which he killed the pea-hen and the Ogress died. The
persons who had been eaten by the Ogress revived when the magic
water was sprinkled on their bones. The magic rice plant, called
Vanaspati, grew into a tree forty yards high, and bore cooked rice.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 43, the seven
Queens' eyes were put out, and they were thrown into a large dry
well. The seventh boy was sent for the milk of a tigress, and then
to the grandparents of the Ogress Queen. A friendly Fakir having
altered the messages, he was well received, got medicine that cured
the blind Queens' eyes, and also killed the birds and smashed a
spinning-wheel in which were .the lives of the Ogress Queen and her
relatives.

At p. 446, also, the eyes of a Queen which had been plucked out
were replaced and healed.

A variant of the Western Province of Ceylon, in which there were
twelve Queens, whose sight was not regained, however, has been
given already. See No. 24.

No. 49

Mr. Janel Sinrm

IN a certain city there are a King and a Queen, it is said.
There are six Princes. The youngest Prince of the six
plays with {lit. beats) the ashes on the ash-heap at the comer
of the hearth ; the other five Princes are doing work, and
going on journeys together.

The King said at the hands of the Queen that he must
behead the Prince who was [idling] on the ash-heap. Then
the Queen said, " What is the use of beheading him ? Let
us send the Prince whom we do not want to any place where
he likes to go."

Having come to the Prince, the Queen says, " Son, the
King says that he must behead you ; on that account go
away to any place you like."

Then the Prince said, " If so, give me a bundle of cooked
rice, and a thousand masuran, in order to go and trade."

So the Queen gave him a package of cooked rice and a
thousand masuran.

The Prince took the masuran and the package of cooked
rice, and having gone on and on, when he was coming to a
travellers' shed [saw that] a man was taking a brown
Monkey,^ in order to throw it into the river. This Prince
called the man, and the man thereupon brought the Monkey
and came to the travellers' shed.

The Prince asked, " Where are you taking that Monkey ? "

The man said, " I am taking" this to sell."

The Prince asked, " For how much will you give it ? "

The man said he would give it for a thousand masuran.
The Prince gave the thousand masuran that were in his

' Macacus pileaius.

MR. JANEL SmM 279

hands, and got the Monkey, and that man having taken the
thousand masuran went away.

The Prince having unfastened the package of cooked rice,
and given some to the Monkey also, and the Prince himself
having eaten, took the Monkey and came back to the very
city of the King. When he came there the King was not at
the palace ; only the Queen was there. The Queen asked,
" What sort of goods have you brought ? "

The Prince says, " Mother, having given that thousand
masuran I have brought a Monkey."

Then the Queen says, " Ane ! Son, should the King and
the rest of them get to know that, he will behead you and
behead me. As you have taken that Monkey put it away
somewhere."

So the Prince took the Monkey and put it in a rock cave in
the jungle, and shutting the door came to the palace. While
he was there the King saw him, and having seen him, called
the Queen and said, " I shall not allow that one to stay in
my palace for even a paeya (twenty minutes) . I shall behead
him to-morrow."

Afterwards the Queen came to the Prince and said, " Son,
the King says he must behead you to-morrow, therefore go
to any place you like, and do not come back."

The Prince said, " Give me a package of rice., and a thou-
sand masuran."

Afterwards the Queen having cooked a package of rice
gave him it, and a thousand masuran. The Prince taking
them, and having gone to the rock cave where the Monkey
was, took it and went to [another] city. At that city he ate
the package of rice at the travellers' shed, and having gone
to the hearth the Prince slept on the ash-heap.

The Monkey went away to dance in cities. Having gone
and danced, collecting requisite articles, he came back to
the place where the Prince was, and the Prince cooked some
of the things he brought^ and gave him to eat. The Monkey
goes every day to dance ; and having danced, the Prince and
Monkey, both of them, eat the things he brings. In that
way the Monkey brings things every day.

One day, the Monkey having gone to a city and danced,

28o VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

fell down at the palace at that city. Then the King came
and asked, " What is it. Monkey ? Why have you fallen
down there ? "

The Monkey says, " I have come to beg and take the
measure^ in which masuran are measured."

Afterwards the King gave him the measure for measuring
masuran. The monkey having taken it and having been
absent for as much as a month, ferought the measure back.

Then the King asked, " What is this, Monkey, that having
taken the measure thou hast been such a time [in returning
it] ? "

The Monkey says, " For just so much time I measured
masuran." ^

The King asked, " Having measured them did you finish ? "

Then the Monkey said, " Ando ! Could it be finished ?
Not even a quarter was finished."

The King said, " Aha ! " and was silent.

The Monkey that day also having danced in that city, the
King gave him many presents. Taking them, and stealing
a cloth from a field where clothes were spread out [to dry],
while he was coming a man having met him in the road asked
the Monkey, " Monkey, to whom dost thou give the articles
that thou art taking every day ? "

The Monkey says, " I give them to our Mr. Janel SiMa. I
am supporting that gentleman."

The Monkey having gone to the place where the Prince was,
says, " Here is a cloth. It is good for the gentleman, is it
not ? " and he showed him the cloth which he had stolen.

The Prince threw it aside, and said, " This cloth which I
have is enough."

Next day the Monkey having come to that city and danced,
lay down on the lawn of the palace. Then the King asked,
" What is it. Monkey, that you have fallen down there for ? "

Then the Monkey says, " Our Mr. Janel Siiina burnt his
cloth while drinking. I have come to ask you to cause the
cloth to be woven for him [anew]."

The King said, " If so, bring it."

Afterwards the Monkey having gone to the place where the
* Berah

MR. JANEL SmNA 281

Prince was, brought a thin cloth and gave it to the King.
Afterwards the King caused one to be woven, and gave it to
him.

Then the Monkey says at the hand of the King, " You
ought to marry your Princess to our Mr. Janel Siiiiia."

The King said, " Ha. It is very good."

The Monkey, begging two copper pots,i went away, and
having gone, heated water in the two copper pots, and having
made the Prince bathe, said to the Prince, " Do not eat
largely of the sorts [of food] after I have cooked and given
[the food] to you [at the palace]. I have asked for a [Prin-
cess in] marriage for you after I went there."

Afterwards the Monkey, summoning the Prince also,
went to the palace of the King of that city. Having gone
there, and prepared a seat at the King's table, and made
ready the food, after the Prince sat down to the food seven
Princesses themselves began to divide [and serve] it.

Then that Prince began to eat very plentifully. The
Monkey having come and nudged him with his finger, said,
" You have eaten enough." Taking no notice of it, the
Prince went on eating. Having eaten that, he shaped his
hand [into a cup] and reversing it there [when full], ate in
excess.

Then the King asked the Monkey, " What, Monkey, is
[the reason of] that ? "

The Monkey said, " Our Mr. Janel Sinna having been
overheated [by his bath] could not eat. Through that
indeed it has befallen that he has lost his senses." That
also the King kept in mind.

Then the Prince and the King's eldest daughter were
married.

After that, the Monkey said that he wanted a thousand
bill-hooks, and a thousand digging-hoes, and a thousand
axes, and a thousand people. The King gave him a thou-
sand bill-hooks, and a thousand digging-hoes, and a thou-
sand axes, and a thousand people. [With these the royal
party set off to deliver the Princess at the Prince's palace.]

Afterwards, having given the tools to those people, the
, . ' HaeKya.

282 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Monkey goes in front. The King and the Princess and the
Prince come after. That Monkey goes [in the trees] jump-
ing and jumping, and changing branches. The thousand
people went footing and footing the road.

While going thus they met with a city. Then the King
quietly told the Monkey to halt ; it stopped. Then the
King asked the Monkey, " Whose is that city that is
visible ? "

The Monkey says, " This city is our Mr. Janel Sinna's.
It has been rented out to his work-people." Afterwards
the King went on, keeping that also in his mind. ,

The Monkey again went in front. Then again they met
with a city. Again the King having called the Monkey
asked, " Whose is that city ? "

Then the Monkey says, " It is our Mr. Janel SiiiM's.
It has been rented out to his workpeople. In that way
are the cities belonging to our Mr. Janel Sinna [given out]."

Again the Monkey went off in front. Having gone thus,
he went to the house of a Rakshasa, and having made the
house ready in a second, when he stepped aside the King
and the Prince and Princess went in.

The King made the thousand workpeople stay there,
and having handed over the Princess, next day went back
to his city.

Afterwards the Monkey asked at the hand of the Prince,
" For the help that you gave me I also am assisting you.
What favour besides will you give me ? "

Then the Prince says, " When you have died I shall weep
abundantly, and having made a coffin, and put you in the
cofBn, I will bury you."

Then the Monkey said, " So much indeed is the assistance
I want."

One day the Monkey lay down, trickishly sajdng that he
was getting fever. The Prince did not even go in that direc-
tion. Next day and the next day he stayed there ; on those
days he did not go.

On the third day the Monkey cunningly shutting his
eyes remained as though he had died. The Prince said to a
man, " Look if that Monkey is dead."

MR. JANEL SIMA 283

The man having gone near the Monjsey, when he looked it
was dead [in appearance] ; he said at the hand of the Prince
that it was dead. The Prince said, " Having put a creeper
round its neck, drag it in the direction of that jungle, and
having thrown it there come back."

When the man tried to put the creeper on the Monkey's
neck the Monkey got up. " Don't put the creeper on my
neck," he said.

Having gone near the Prince he said, " After I was dead
[apparently], you were taking me without having put me
in a coffin. Why do you [arrange to] drag me, having put
a creeper on my neck ? Don't take even so much trouble."

Having said this, the Monkey went off to the midst of the
forest, and died.

Tom-Tom Beater. North-western Province.

Of course, this is an Eastern form of Puss-in-Boots.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 226 ff., there is an account of
a clever match-making Jaclcal which induced a King to marry his
daughter to a weaver.

No. 50

The Nikini Story'

IN a certain country there are a man and a woman, it
is said. There is a girl (daughter) of those two persons.

The girl was asked [in marriage] for a Gamarala of an-
other country who had much wealth in money. The girl
having been summoned, and having gone to the Gamarala,
and been with him for a long time, he went to chop jungle
[for making a chena]. There he met with a fawn, and
having returned home said to the girl, " Bolan, there was
a fawn in the chena." '

The girl said, " Ane ! After you hg-ve gone to-morrow
bring it." On the following day the Gamarala brought it.

When the girl had reared it for a long time, a longing came
to her, and she lay down. Afterwards the Gamarala asked
the Deer, " What, Deer, is thy elder sister's illness ? "

Then the Deer said, " Our elder sister has a longing."

The Gamarala said, " What can she eat for it ? "
'i- The Deer repHed, " Our elder sister can eat the stars in
the sky."

Afterwards the Gamarala, having gone to seek the stars,
and to seek for the comer of the sky [where it joined the
earth, so as to ascend to them], searched until he became
aged, but was unable to find the corner ; and the Gamarala
died.

Then the girl, having sold the Gamarala's village, took the
money that was obtained there, and the wealth that he
possessed [and left]. While the girl and the Deer were
going on their way they met with a King. He asked the
Deer, " Where, Deer, are ye going ? "

1 Called also, " The Deer and the Girl and Nikini."

THE NIKINI STORY 283

The Deer said, " Our elder sister on account of thirst is
going to seek a little water."

Then the King said, " Wilt thou give thy elder sister to
me [in marriage] ? "

The Deer said " Ha " ; so having placed the Deer and
the Deer's elder sister on the back of the King's elephant,
they went to the palace.

When a long time had passed, a longing came again to
the girl, and she lay down.

The King asked the Deer, '-' What is thy elder sister's
illness ? "

The Deer said, " Our elder sister has a longing."

The King asked, " What can she eat for it ? "

The Deer said, " Should you bring for our elder sister the
sand which is at the bottom of the ocean, if she slept upon it
she would be well."

Afterwards, when the King was going to the bottom of
the sea to take the sand, he was soaked with the water,
and died.

After this, when the Deer and the Deer's elder sister,
taking all the King's things, and cooking a bimdle of rice,
were on their way again, they met with a man. The man
asked the Deer, " Where, Deer, are ye going ? "

The Deer said " We are going to seek a man for our elder
sisler."

The man said, " If so, give thy elder sister to me."

The Deer said " Ha," and the Deer and the Deer's elder
sister went to the man's house.

When they had been there a long time, a longing came to
the woman, and she lay down. The man asked, " What,
Deer, is thy elder sister's illness ? "

The Deer said, " Our elder sister has a longing."

The man asked, " What can she eat for it ? "

The Deer said, " Our elder sister must eat Nikini. Should
she not eat it, it will not only be very difficult for her
[to recover] ; her life will be lost." Now the sort called
" Nikini " is not in anyplace whatever in the world. That
ignorant man, not knowing of its non-existence, on account
of the love that he bore for his wife went away on a search
for Nikini.

286 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Afterwards, when the foolish man was on his way to
seek for Nikini, a man was ploughing. The man who was
ploughing Etsked, " Where are you going ? "

This man said, " I am going to seek for a little Nikini."

Then the man said to this man, " If so, come here [and
help me to plough]."

Those two having ploughed during the whole of that day,
went in the, evening to the house of the man who had been
ploughing. Both of them having eaten cooked rice, the
man who went to seek for Nikini asked that man, " Ane !
Now then, tell me the place where there is Nikini."

The man said, " Ane ! I don't know. Go you away."

After that, when he had slept there that night, that man
gave him a little cooked rice. Having eaten a little, while
he was going on his way to seek for Nikini, a man was chop-
ping earthen ridges in a rice field. The man asked, " Where
are you going ? "

This man said, " I am going to seek for a little Nikini."

Then that man said, " If so, come here [and help
mel."

After those two persons had chopped the ridges during
the whole day, they went in the evening to the man's house.
While they were [there], having eaten cooked rice this man
who went to seek for Nikini said, " Ane ! Tell me the site
where there is Nikini."

The man said, " Ane ! I don't know. Go and ask at the
hand of another person."

When this man had slept there that day night, on the
next day that man gave him a little cooked rice. Having
eaten it he set off to go and seek Nikini. Then a man' was
sowing a rice field. The man asked him, " Where are you
going ? "

This man said, " I am going to seek for a little Nikini."

The man asked, " What for ? "

This man replied, " A longing has come to our houSe-
mistress, so she told me to go and bring a little Nikini."

The man said, " If so, come here and sow."

For the whole of that day those two sowed. In the
evening they came to the man's house, -and both of them

THE NIKINI STORY 287

having eaten cooked rice, while they were there this man
said, " Now then, tell me the place where there is Nikini."

Then the man said " Yako,^ that was not [asked for]
through want of Nikini. That was said through wanting
to cause you to be killed. Your wife has a paramour."

The man quarrelled with him, saying, " Not in any way.
My wife is very good. She has great love for me. If you
again say such a thing as that one is there, I shall strike you."

The other man asked, " What will you give me to catch
that paramour for you."

The person who went on the search for Nikini said, " I
have a gem which has continued with us from generation
to generation. I will give you that gem." [The man
accepted this offer].

Then the two persons made a cage called, " The Cage of
the God Sivalinga," and tied white cloth in it [as a lining],
and trimmed a wooden ctidgel and placed it inside. The
man [who had gone for Nikini] was also placed inside the
cage with a cloth on his shoulders, and closed in with similar
cloths. Men having been fetched [and engaged to carry it]
— saying that he was bringing the God Sivalinga — took
if on their shoulders, and going oU with it they went to a
Hettirala's shop.

Then that man said [to the person inside the cage], " After
I have placed it inside the shop, take the cash-box which is
in it, and put it inside the cage."

The Hettirala asked, " What is that cage ? "

The man said, " Our deity, the God Sivalinga."

The Hettirala asked, " What is it, then, that is necessary
for offering to that deity ? "

The man said, " The cooked rice from two quarts of raw
rice, and sweet plantains are wanted."

So the Hettirala brought and gave him the cooked rice
from two quarts of raw rice, and ripe sweet plantains. After
that, the man gave to the man in the cage the cooked rice

' An expression often used in village talk, without any connexion
with its literal meaning, " O demon." " Fellow ! " nearly expresses
its ordinary meaning, which is less respectful than that of the word
Bola.

288 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

from a quart of the raw rice, and half the plantains. The
other man ate the rice from the other qiiart, and the remain-
ing plantains.

In the evening the man gave the cage into the hands of
the Hettiya, and told him to place it in the house. So the
Hettiya put the cage in the house. [During the night the
man inside it stole the cash-box.] When it got near mid-
night the man asked for the cage, saying, " Hetti-elder-
brother, give me my cage so that I may go." The Hetti-
rala gave it.

As the man, taking the cage, was going along he met with
a city. Then that man said [to the man in the cage], " After
I have taken this cage and placed it in the palace, you get
the things in it and put them inside the cage." Having
said this they went to the palace. The King asked, " What
is that ? "

The man said, " Our deity, the God Sivalinga. We are
able to say sooth and the like."

The King asked, " What do you require for him ? "

The man said, " Rice cooked from raw rice, and sweet
plantains are necessary."

So the King gave him cooked rice and sweet plantains.
The man having given [a share of them] to the man in the
cage, said, "It is necessary to place this cage inside the
palace [for the night]."

The King having said " Ha," he brought it, and placed it
inside the palace. As it was becoming light the man said,
" Now then, I want the cage in order to worship the deity."
So the King gave him the cage.

Afterwards, as the man was taking the cage near a tank
it became light. He remained there until it was night, and
then went to the house of the man who went to seek Nikini,
and found that the woman had called in another man who
was there. That man asked, " What is that ? "

The man said, " This is our deity, the God Sivalinga. We
are able to tell sooth."

The man said, " Ha. It is good. There is a sooth that
we, too, require to ask about."

Then the [pretended] Kapurala, whom the God Sivalinga

THE NIKINI STORY 289

was [supposed to be] goading. ^ to it, became possessed.
When he was saying sooth, the wife of the man who went to
seek Nikini and the false husband who had joined her, came
with their arms interlaced, and saying to the deity that a
long time had elapsed since her husband had gone in search
of Nikini.they asked, " Has an3^hing happened to him now ? "

At that time the God Sivalinga said through the person
possessed by Sivalinga, " The man has now become blind.
Besides that, he will not be permitted to return to his village.
He will die while in that state."

Then because he said this in the manner that was in the
mind of the woman, she took the food off the fire, and to-
gether with the false husband brought the deity to her house,
and gave the rice cooked from two quarts of raw rice, and
sweet plantains, in order that the Kapurala might present
an offering.

That night, when he had eaten, the Kapurala said, " We
must place this our cage inside that [room]."

" You may do it," they said, and they placed it in the
house.

Then when the wife of the man who was inside the cage
and the false husband were spreading mats [to lie upon],
and making ready for sleeping, the Kapurala who remained
outside said, " Except that [cage], there is no room for two."
Thereupon the man who was inside the cage came out, and
beat the false husband even on the cheeks with the cudgel
that he had taken. So the man died.

After that, the man, as it was becoming light, went and
threw the Deer's elder sister into the river. Having re-
turned, and gone to the village with the Deer, the man who
went for Nikini cooked for the other man, and gave him to
eat. Then the two divided the money, and he gave the
man the gem which he had, as a present for him, and sent
that man back to his village.

Afterwards this man, taking another wife, remained
there. [According to another version, however, he became
a Buddhist monk.]

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.
^ Totra karanawa.

290 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The story is also related in a contracted form in the
Western Province.

In a variant by a Tom-tom Beater of the North-western
Province, a young Boar takes the place of the Deer, and
the woman married first a King, and afterwards a Rakshasa
who was sent for the Nikini. At the Boar's suggestion he
died by jumping into a fire made by the girl, and the Boar
then followed his example, and was burnt up. The girl
is represented as " smearing a great deal of gold on herself "
before this, apparently becoming gilded.

No. 51
The Aet-kanda Leniya^

AT a certain city there are the King and the Queen, it is
said. They had one son, and while the Prince was
living there the Queen bore yet [another] Prince.

One day the two Princes having gone to the river to bathe,
a Princess from another city came to bathe [at the same
place], and the eldest Prince hid the robes of the Princess.
Afterwards, on his inviting the Princess she went with the
Prince to his city.

After they had gone there, when the King got to know of
it he said, " Should this rascal stay with me the kingdom
will be destroyed," and he ordered them to behead the
Prince. Then the Queen, the Prince's mother, having cooked
a bundle of rice and given it to him, said, " Go away where
you Hke [or the King will behead you]."

The Prince having taken the packet of cooked rice to the
river, ate it with the Princess. After eating it the two
persons went to the house of a widow woman. The Prince
made the Princess stay with her, and having given the
Princess's robes into the haiids of the widow woman, said,
" Mother, put those robes into that box and this box "
(that is, here and there, not all in one place, so that the
Princess should not be able to find them).

Afterwards, when the Prince had gone to the forge to get

1 Also written Lihiniya, " the Glider," a name applied to some
hawks and swallows, etc. The whole name is " Tusk-Elephant-
Mountain Hawk," or Eagle, I could learn nothing of the " Tusk-
Elephant Mountain." This bird is the Rukh or Roc of the Arabian
Nights.

292 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON i

a sword made, the Princess said to the widow woman,
" Mother, give me my robes to look at."

The widow woman said, " Ane ! Daughter, I don't know
where they are."

The Princess said, " Why are you telling me lies ? Give
them to me."

On account of that, the widow woman opened the boxes,
and gave the robes to the Princess. The Princess took the
robes, and saying, " Should he see me again it will be as
[wonderful as] if he should see the young of the Aet-Kanda
Leniya, or white where charcoal has been rubbed," went
away to the city of the Princess.

When the Prince came after getting the sword made, he
asked at the hand of the widow woman, " Where is the
Princess ? "

The woman said, " On her asking for her robes I gave
them. Taking them, she said, ' Should he see me again it
will be as [wonderful as] if he should see the young of the
Aet-Kanda Leniya, or white where charcoal has been
rubbed' [and then she went away]."

The Prince on that account rubbed and rubbed char-
coal, and when he looked there was a little white [colour].
Having seen it, he told the widow woman to cook cakes.
When they were cooked he took some and ate ; and tpng
up a cloth package of them, and taking it, and the sword,
he went off.

As he was passing through the middle of a forest, he saw
a cobra beginning to climb a tree in which were the little ones
of the Aet-Kanda Leniya, and he cut it in two with the sword.
While he was chmbing the tree after killing it, the little
ones of the Aet-Kanda Leniya came to eat him. Then he
said to the little ones, " unrighteous ones ! Why are ye
coming to eat me ? Look ye on the ground."

When the Aet-Kanda little ones had looked on the ground,
and seen the cobra that he had cut in two, they said, " [As
you have saved us from the cobra] we will render you any
possible assistance."

Then the Prince after going to the nest where they were,
unfastened the package of cakes, and having given to them

THE AET-KANDA LENIYA 293

also, ate. After eating, the little ones of the Aet-Kanda
Leniya said, " Mother will indeed eat you to-day when
she has come."

The Prince said, " Ane ! Somehow or other you must
save me."

They said " Ha," and made him creep among their
wings.

While he was there the Aet-Kanda Leni (the female Rukh,
their mother), having pierced with its claws a tusk elephant,
came bringing it, after flying round the sea in three circles.
After she had come she said, " What is this, children !
Here is prey for you ; are you delaying to eat ? On other
days you come screaming for it."

Those young ones said, "Mother, to-day we are not hungry.
Food has been given to us."

" Whence ? " she asked.

The little ones said, " There is a man with us ; [he gave
it to us]."

" Show me him," the Aet-Kanda Leni said.

" You will eat him, mother," they repUed.

The Aet-Kanda Leni said, " I will not eat him."

" If so, take us and swear," ^ the little ones said.

Then the Aet-Kanda Leni swore, " I will not eat him."

After that, the little ones showed the Aet-Kanda Leni
the Prince. The Prince said to the Aet-Kanda Leni, " Look
at the foot of the tree ; [I have saved your little ones by
killing the cobra]."

After having looked, the Aet-Kanda Leni said, " I will
give you any possible assistance because you have done
this."

Afterwards, the Prince having descended from the tree
was unable to cross the river. So the Aet-Kanda Leni
broke a stick, and bringing it in her mouth told the Prince
to hang from it. While the Prince was hanging, the Aet-
Kanda Leni flew to the other side of the river ; after [leaving

^ Apparently she was to swear by them, touching them at the
time. See No. 8, jn which a Prince and Princess touched each
Other when swearing an oath.

2^4 vilLaCe foliC-tales of CEVLON

him there] she returned to the nest where the little ones
were.

The Prince went on. As he was going along, some men
were taking a great many elephants. " What are you
taking those elephants f or ? " he asked.

Those men said, " We are taking them to kill at the city."

The Prince said, " I will give you these hundred masu-
ran ; let them go."

Those men, saying " Ha," took the hundred masuran,
and let the elephants go.

After that, when he had gone much further still, he saw
men taking a great many pigs. The Prince asked, " Where
are you taking these pigs ? "

" We are taking them to kill at the city," the men replied.

The Prince said, " I will give you these hundred masuran ;
let them go."

The men said " Ha," and taking the hundred masuran
let them go.

When the Prince had gone still a little further, men were
taking a great quaiitity of turtle-doves. " Where are you
taking those turtle-doves ? " he asked.

" We are taking them to the city to kill," the men repHed.

The Prince said, " I will give you these hundred masuran ;
let the turtle-doves go."

The men said " Ha," and taking the hundred masuran let
them go.

When he had gone a little further still, men were taking
a great many fire-flies. " Where are you taking them ? "
the Prince asked.

Those men replied, " We are taking them to the city
to fry."

The Prince said, " I will give you these hundred masuran ;
let them go."

The men said " Ha," and taking the hundred masuran
let them go.]

When he had gone a little further yet, seven widow women
came to the well for water [which they said they wanted in
order] to pour water on the head of that Princess, who had
become marriageable. A widow woman said to that Prince,

THE AET-KANDA LENIYA 295

" Take hold of this water-pot [and help me to lift it up]."
Then the Prince having taken the jewelled ring that was
on his hand, put it in the water-pot [unobserved] ; after
that he took hold of the water-pot [and helped her to lift it].

When they had taken the water, and were pouring it on
the head of the Princess, the jewelled ring fell down. Hav-
ing seen it [and recognised it], the Princess ordered the
woman to tell the Prince to come. So the Prince went there.

After he had gone there [and told her that he had made a
white mark with charcoal, and had saved the Uves of the
Httle ones of the Aet-Kanda Leniya], that Princess said to
the Prince, " [Before I will marry you, you must perform the
tasks that I shall give you. First you must] cut a chena
suitable for sowing one and a half amuneis 1 of mu^ " (a
small pulse).

The Prince said " Ha," and having gone and cut a branch
or two at the chena, thought, " Ane ! Will the elephants
that I set free by giving a hundred masuran render an assist-
ance ? " Those elephants that he freed, having come at
this word, broke down all that jungle and went away.

After that, the Prince went to the Princess, and said,
" The chena has been cut."

" Then set fire [to it]," the Princess said. So the Prince
went and set fire [to the bushes]. The chena burnt excel-
lently ; nothing remained, so well it burnt.

Having gone to the Princess he said, "I set fire to the
chena." Then the Princess gave him one and a half amunas
of mu^, and said, " Sow this and come back."

When the Prince had gone he took the muioi and sowed
it at the chena. Afterwards the Prince said, " Ane ! Will
the pigs that I set free by giving a hundred masuran render
an assistance ? " Then the pigs that he had freed by giving
the hundred masuran all came and dug [with their snouts]
the whole of the chena.

The Prince went to the Princess, and said, " I have sowed
the chena." After that, the Princess told him to collect
and bring back the mu^i that he had sown in the chena.

' An amuna is 57 bushels in the district where this story was
told.

296 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

So the Prince having gone to the chena, and collected a
little mug, said, " Ane ! Will the turtle-doves that I freed
by giving a hundred masuran render, an assistance ? " Then
the turtle-doves that he had set free having all come, picked
up the whole.

The Prince, collecting it and taking it to the city said
to the Princess, " After collecting the mun that I sowed in
the chena I have come back."

" Then measure it," she said. When he was measuring
it there was one mun seed less. As she said this a turtle-
dove dropped it at the measuring place.

After that, the father of the Princess put that Princess and
seven widow women in a dark room. Having put them
[there] the King said, " Unless you select and take out the
Princess, or if you take out any other person, I shall behead
you."

When the Prince had gone into the room [he thought],
" Will the fire-flies that I freed by giving a hundred masuran
render an assistance ? " Then all the fire-flies having come,
fastened on the body of the Princess, as a lamp. After that,
the Prince took the Princess out into the light.

[As he had performed all the tasks, the Prince was married
to the Princess]. Afterwards the Prince, calling the Prin-
cess, went to the house of that widow woman.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

In a variant of the first part of this story, a youth whose
father was dead, and whose mother, finding him in the way,
wanted to get rid of him in order to marry another man,
was sent by his mother to bring some milk, to be used
medicinally for curing a pretended illness of hers.

He was sent first to the Aet-Kanda Lihiniya (Leniya
is an alternative spelling), and had the same experiences
at its nest, before he got the milk. The young birds told
their mother that he was their elder brother, the son of their
Punci-Amma.^ When he stated that he. had come to ask
for the milk, the Lihini (the female Rukh) said, " Ando !

• Little Mother, an expression meaning the mother's younger
sister, or the step-mother.

THE AET-KANDA LENIYA 297

Son, when did any one get milk from me, and cure a sick
person with it ? She has done that to kill you, not through
want of it. However, since you have come I will give you
a little milk." One of the young birds accompanied him
to his home. After his mother had drunk the milk she
pretended to be still ill, and sent him for the milk of the
Demon Hound,i which lived in a cave in a forest. I trans-
late this part : —

The woman cooked and gave him a packet of rice. This
youth, taking the packet of cooked rice and his sword, and
making the little one of the Aet-Kanda Lihini stay at the
house, went to the cave where the Demon Hound was.
When he arrived, the Demon Hound was not there ; only
the little ones of the Demon Hound were there.

As the youth was going [to the cave] the little ones came
growling to eat him. When this youth unfastened the
packet of cooked rice, and showed them it, they stopped.
Afterwards, the youth, having divided the packet of cooked
rice, gave [part] to the Demon Hound's little ones, and
taking some himself, they ate.

After they had eaten, the young dogs said, " When mother
has come she will indeed eat you."

Then this youth said, " Ane ! To-day you must some-
how or other save me. Do not let her eat me."

The young dogs said " Ha," and putting the youth in
the hollow of the cave, the young dogs came to this side,
[towards the entrance], and remained there lying down.

While they were there the Demon Hound came. After
she had come she said, sniffing twice, " Where does this
smell of fresh human flesh come from ? "

The little ones of the Demon Hound replied, " You eat
fresh human flesh, and you bring fresh human flesh ; what
is this that you are saying ? "

The Demon Hound said, " No, children, a fresh human
smell is coming to me. Tell me [how it is]. Tell me."

The little ones said, " You will eat him."

The Demon Hound said, " No, children, I will not eat
him. Tell me."

^ YabhaeUi, apparently a kind of demon in the shape of a dog.

298 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The little ones said, " Take us and swear."

After that, the Demon Hound took her little ones and
swore, " I will not eat him."

Then the little ones showed her that youth, saying, " Here
he is, mother ; our little mother's son has come, our elder
brother."

The Demon Hound asked at the hand of this youth,
" What, son, have you come for ? "

This youth replied, " Mother, our mother is ill. On
account of it she said, ' Should you go and bring a little
milk, when I have drunk it I shall become well.' Because
of that I have come to ask for a little milk."

The Demon Hound said, " Ando ! Son, when did a sick
person get milk from me and become well ! To [get] you
killed is the explanation of that. However, .since you
have come, take a little milk and go." So saying she gave
him a little milk.

Afterwards, as this youth was preparing to set off with
it, a young dog said, " I also want to go with our elder
brother," and howling [on account of it was allowed by his
mother] to come away with the youth.

Having arrived and given the milk to the woman, after
she had drtmk it he asked, " Now then, mother, is your
illness cured ? "

The woman said, " Ando ! Son, it is not cured."

The youth asked, " If so, what shall I do ? "

The woman replied, " Bring a little milk from the Bear
that is in the cave in the forest, and give me it."

He went for it, leaving the young Dertion Hound at the
house, and his adventures and the conversations were a
mere repetition of those at the cave of the Demon Hound.
One of the young Bears returned to the house with him.

Lastly, he was sent to bring the milk of the Crocodile
that was in the Sea, " the reservoir 1 for the sky, and the
reservoir for the earth." He ate his rice on a mound in
the sea, after which, as he was descending into the sea, he
observed a blije-lotus flower, and found the Crocodile at it.
It came to eat him, but he held out his sword in front of him,

1 Talla.

THE AET-ICANDA LfiNIvA 299

so it asked him why he had come, and after hearing his
explanation, in the very same words as before, gave him a
httle milk. It warned him, like the other animals, that
the sending him for it was only a device to get him killed.
He took the milk home, and after drinking it his mother
informed him that she was cured. The story is then con-
cluded as follows : —

Having said this, the woman went to the man [whom
she wanted to marry], and said, " Now then, there is no
means of killing that one. From the places to which he
went he has escaped and come back. What, then, shall
we do to that one ? "

That man said, " Cook to-day after it has become night.
I will break something in the lower part of the garden.
Then say, ' Son. There ! Did you hear something break
in the lower part of the garden ? Maybe cattle have
come in.' He will come to see, and when he has come,
I will chop him with the bill-hook, and kill him."

Afterwards, this woman having returned to the house,
as she was cooking when it became night, the man came
and broke a stick in the lower part of the garden. The
woman said, " Ando ! Son, maybe cattle have come in.
Go quickly [and drive them out]."

Then, as this youth, having gone into the house and
taken his sword, was going out, that little one of the Aet-
Kanda Lihini, and the little one of the Demon Hound,
and the little one of the Bear went with him. The three of
them having gone [in front] to the lower part of the garden,
bit the man who waited there, and having killed him re-
turned. When this youth went and looked, the man had
been killed. Then the youth came back, and having
killed his mother stayed quietly there. So that little one
of the Aet-Kanda Lihini, and the little one of the Demon
Hound, and the young Bear, and the youth remained at
the house together.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

There are Indian versions of several of the incidents of these
stories.

300 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

In Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 15, a Prince killed a cobra that
was about to ascend a tree in order to destroy two eaglets. They
assisted him afterwards.

In the Katha Sarit Sdgara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 221, the Garudas
or Rukhs are described as being " of the nature of vultures." A
Brahmana got hid among the back feathers of one while it was
asleep, and was carried by it to the Golden City next day. These
birds are referred to (vol. i, p. 78) as breeding on a mountain called
Swarnamiila, in Ceylon. Compare also the account of Bharunda
birds in The Kathahqda (Tawney), p. 164. According to Prof.
Sayce, the original idea of the Rukh is to be found in Zu, the storm-
bird or god of the Sumerians {The Religions of Ancient Egypt and
Babylonia, p. 353).

A Uon-headed eagle with outspread wings, holding a lion by
each of its feet, formed the symbol of Lagash or Shirpurla, one
of the earliest Sumerian cities. It was the emblem of Ningirsu,
the god of the city (A History of Sumer and Akkad, by L. W.
King, 1910, pp. 98, 100). According to Mr. King's revised chron-
ology, this takes back the notion of this gigantic eagle, which
carried off and devoured the largest quadrupeds, to the fourth
millenium B.C. Its Sumerian name was Imgig,

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 134, a Prince's wife, disguised
as a Sannyasi, or Hindu religious mendicant, on her way to join her
husband who was ill — poisoned by lying on powdered glass that
was spread over his bed — rested under a tree in which a pair of Rukhs
(in this story called Bihangama and Bihangami) had their nest,
containing two young birds. She cut in two a snake that was about
to climb the tree, and that was accustomed to kiU the young ones
each year. She overheard the conversation of the birds, which was
to the efiect that some of their droppings would cure the Prince, if
reduced to powder and appUed with a brush to the Prince's body,
after bathing him seven times, with seven jars of water and seven
jars of milk. One of the birds carried her on his back to the Prince,
with the rapidity of lightning. At p. 219, we learn that the dung
of the young of this bird, when applied fresh to the eyeballs, would
cure blindness.

At pp. 189 and 192, a puppy and a young hawk joined a Prince
on his journey, but apparently owing to the omission of some inci-
dent of the tale they were of no service to him. Such omissions are
common ; they can only be supplied by collecting variants.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), pp. 74, 75 — Tales of
the Punjab, pp. 66, 67 — a crow, peacock, and jackal in turn warned
a girl against a robber with whom she was going.

At p. 273 — Tales of the Punjab, p. 259 — Prince Rasalu was given
the task of separating a hundred-weight of millet seed from a hun-
dred-weight of sand with which it had been mixed. This was done
for him by crickets in return for his saving a cricket from a fire.

^ THE AET-KANDA LENIYA 301

In the Jataka story No. 444 (vol. iv, pp. 19, 20), a man laid his
hand on the head of a boy who had been bitten by a snake, and
then repeated a Spell to restore him to health. The boy's father
laid his- hand on the boy's breast while saying a second spell.

In the Tamil Story of Madana Kama Raja, or " Dravidian Nights "
(NatSSa Sastri), p. 21 ff., a Prince purchased for a hundred pagodas
apiece, a kitten and a snake, which he reared for twelve years. They
assisted him afterwards.

At p. 91 ff., a Prince was ordered by a King to bring snake's
poison, and afterwards whale's fat.

At p. 109 ff., a Prince who had four heavenly wives lost them
through his mother's returning to one of them her celestial garment,
which had been concealed. When in search of a way to his wives,
he saved an Ant-King, a Frog- King, and a Cricket-King. He went
to Indra, who gave him four tasks, of which one was that after an
acre of land had been sown with sesame seed and ploughed one
hundred times, he was to collect all the seeds. The Ant-King
brought his subjects- and collected them for him. Another of the
tasks, the last one, was the selection of Indra's daughter, who was
one of his wives, from the four, who were all given the same appear-
ance. The Cricket- King enabled him to do this, by hopping onto
her foot.

No. 52

The Wimali Story

AT a certain city there are a man and a woman, it is
said. That woman was about to have a child. She
cooked cakes to eat. While she was eating, a crow came,
and stayed there looking on. " She will throw me a piece
of cake, at least," it thought. The woman did not give
it even a bit of the cakes.

Afterwards the crow went to the house of the Rakshasa,
and breaking off a mango fruit came to that house, and ate
it in front of the woman who ate the cakes. While the
crow was eating, the woman thought, " It will throw down
a piece of it, at least." The crow did not give her any of it ;
it ate the whole and flew away.

After the man of the house came, the woman said, " The
crow brought a mango fruit, and turned it round and round,
and ate the whole of it. [Somehow or other you must get
me a mango.]"

After that, the man went to the house of the Rakshasa,
and having ascended the mango tree, tried to pluck a
mango fruit. As he was plucking it the Rakshasa came
home. Seeing the man in the tree, he asked, " Who is
that in the tree ? "

" Ang ! I am in the tree," said the man.

" What are you plucking mangoes for ? " he asked.

" For our house-girl to eat. [She is about to have a
child, and has asked for one,]" he said.

" Well then, pluck one and descend," the Rakshasa said.

So the man plucked one, and came down. After he had
descended the Rakshasa said, " Should she bear a son he is
for thee ; should she bear a daughter, she is for me."

The man said " Ha," and taking the mango fruit went
home.

303

THE WIMALl STORY 303

News afterwards reached the Rakshasa that she had
borne a girl. On account of it the Rakshasa went to the
house [and took the girl]. As he was returning carrying
the girl, he saw two boys going to school, and said, " Boys,
boys, say a name for my daughter."

The boys saying, " WimaK, Wimali " (pure or beautiful
one), ran away.

So the Rakshasa took the girl to his house, and shared
it with her.

Afterwards, when he had gone to eat human flesh, the
Rakshasa heard the sound of tom-toms saying, " Wimali,"
[and thought they were calling the girl]. So he came home,
and asked Wimali, " Have you been out ? "

" No, I have not been out. I have just got up," Wimali
said.

Next day he went again to eat human flesh. After he
had gone he heard the sound of tom-toms saying, " Wimali."
The Rakshasa came home, and asked Wimali again,
" Have you been out ? "

" No, I have just put on my cloth," Wimali said.

The Rakshasa having gone to eat human flesh on the
following day, again heard the sound of tom-toms saying,
" Wimali." He came home and asked Wimali, " Have you
been out ? "

" No, I have only just combed my hair," Wimali said.

After that, news reached the King that a girl called
Wimali was at the Rakshasa's house. Having learnt this,
the King came to take away Wimali. When he arrived
there [the Rakshasa was out, so] he formed a figure of
Wimali out of rice flour, and after placing that figure in
the Rakshasa's house, took WimaK to the city.

The Rakshasa came to the house and [finding that she
was not there] said, " Wimali will not stay at home." Then
he tried to eat her figure, and ate a great part of the flour
figure. After he had eaten this [his mouth was choked
with the flour, so] he said, " May a mouth be created on the
top of my head." When he had said this [the mouth was
created, and] the Rakshasa's head being split in two by it,
he died.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

No. 53

The Pots of Oil

A MAN having gone to the Lower Twelve Pattus (the
name of a district) to seek for coconuts, and having
collected fifty or sixty coconuts at a shed [where he was
lodging, found that] because of their great weight he was
unable to bring them ; and so he expressed [the oil from]
them.

Having expressed it, on the morning of the following day
he asked for two large pots, and filling them with the oil
he tied them as a pingo (carrying-stick) load (one below
each end of the stick), and set off with them.

During the time while he was coming on his way to his
village, he met a man in the road, and having given him
betel, etc., to eat, said, " Ane ! Friend, you must assist me a
little. Take this pingo load somewhat far, and hand it
over to me. I will give you four tuttu " (three halfpence).
[The man agreed to help him, and took the load.]

Then the man, as he was going along the road, thought,
" With the funds provided by these four tuttu I shall buy a
hen chicken. Having taken it home, after it has become
large and laid twelve eggs I shall [set them under it and] get
twelve chickens. After the twelve chickens have become
big, I shall sell them for sixpence apiece. With that money
I shall get a he-goat and a she-goat, and that she-goat will
bear two kids.

" When the kids have become large I can sell them for five
rupees apiece, and having given the ten rupees I shall get a
buffalo cow. While I am rearing the buffalo cow she will
bear a calf. At that time I shall go to ask about a lucky
hour (fixed by astrology) for taking the [first] milk»

304

THE POTS OF OIL 305.

"After I have got to know the lucky hour and gone to
take the milk, the buffalo cow, becoming afraid, will kick
at me." Saying this, he jumped aside in order to avoid
it.

As he was coming on the path, at this time he had reached
a foot-bridge formed of a single tree trunk {edanda), and
while going along at the middle of it he made the jump [to
escape the cow's kick]. As he jumped, he fell off the tree
trunk, taking the load of oil with him [and the two ppts
were smashed].

At his fall, the owner of the oil asked, " Having come so far
taking care of this oil, why did you throw it down and
break the pots at this foot-bridge, friend ? "

The man said, " With the fimds provided by the four
tuttu I thought of buying a chicken. This happened
owing to that." -

Afterwards the owner of the oil, saying, " Never mind
the spilling of the oil ; you must go with me," invited the
man to accompany him, and they went together. Having
arrived at the village, because he was a capable man [the
owner of the oil] gave him his daughter [in marriage].

Not a very long time afterwards, the men of the village
said that they must go to Puttalam to load salt and sun-
dried fish, and bring them back [bartering part of them on
the way home]. The man said, " Father-in-law, I also
must go to Puttalam." So the father-in-law' made ready
a cart load of goods, and giving them to him told him to
go with the other men, and said, " [When disposing of the
goods] the' things which they count you also count and
give ; the goods which they give ' simply ' (that is, without
counting), you also give ' simply.' " ^
- Afterwards the men who went from the village, while
coming back from Puttalam, from place to place gave the
goods they were bringing, and took [in exchange] the things
they wanted. The man having observed which goods

"• The word used, nikan, " no-act," is employed in several senses ;
when a thing is given nikan, it usually means " without payment."
To come or go nikan, is to come or go without any Special reason
or business, and also to go empty-handed, as in a former tale.

X

3o6 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

they counted, counted and gave the same goods, without
[taking] money. The goods which the other mfen gave
without counting, that man also gave without counting.
Thus, in that manner he gave all the goods loaded into the
cart, until at last only the cart and the yoke of bulls remained
over.

Afterwards the men who went in the party gave goods,
and each one got a horse. This man gave the cart and yoke
of bulls and got a horse.

While they were coming bringing the horses, the men of
the party gave goods, and each one got a goat of foreign
breed. So this man gave his hcwse, and got a goat.

While they were bringing the goats, the men of the
party, saying, " We must each one get a dog with a party-
coloured body," gave goods, and got one apiece. So this
man gave the foreign goat that he was bringing, and got one.

Having come to a shop where they were selling foreign
pots, the men of the party gave goods, and each one got a
foreign water-pot. This man giving the parti-coloured
dog, also got one.

Afterwards having come very close to their village,
each of the men of the party, saying, " I will give four
tuttu and get shaved," got shaved. So this man gave
that foreign water-pot, and got himself shaved.

In the end the man returned home without either cart, or
yoke of bulls, or goods.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

Some Eastern variants have been mentioned above in the story
of the kitul seeds, No. 26.

In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 102, there is a story by Mr. A. E. R.
Corea, in which a man who was going in search of work gathered
some leaves on the road-side, which are eaten as a vegetable. In
another district where there were no vegetables he exchanged them
for fishes, a leaf for a fish. Going on, he bartered these for digging
hoes, and these again for oxen, with which he set off on his return
home. Having nothing to eat, he continued to give two oxen for
two rice cakes, until at last he arrived at his house empty-handed.

In the Panchatantra (Dubois), a Brahmana who had been at two
feasts on the same day, carried away from the second some pots of
ghi — or Uquid butter — milk, and flour, and began to consider how
he would ac(juire wealth by mews of them- He would s^ tjiero,

THE POTS OF OIL 307

and buy a she-goat, which would have kids, and in a short time he
would possess a flock. He would then sell the goats and buy a cow
and a mare, by selling the calves and foals from which he- would
become a rich man. He would get married and have numerous
children, who would be well educated and well dressed. His wife
would become inattentive to her duties at the house. During her
absence the children would run about near the cows, and the young--
est one would be injured by them. For neglecting them he would
beat his wife, and taking up his stick to beat her he smashed the
pots containing his provisions.

No. 54

The Mouse Maiden ^

THERE are a King and a Queen of a certain city, and
there is a daughter of the Queen.

They asked [permission] to summon the daughter to go
[in marriage] to the Prince of another city. The King
said " Ha," so they came from that city to summon the
King's Princess. After coming, they told the bride to
come out [of her chamber] in order to eat the rice [of the
wedding-feast]. The Queen said, " She is eating cooked
rice in the house."

Then they told her to come out in order to dress her in
the robes [sent by the bridegroom (?)]. The Queen said,
" She is putting on robes [in her chamber]."

Then they told her to come out in order to go [to the
bridegroom's city]. So the Queen told two persons to
come, and having put a female Mouseling ^ in an incense
box, brought it, and gave it into the hands of the two persons,
and said, " Take ye this, and until seven days have gone
by do not open the mouth of the box." Having taken it
to the city, when they opened the mouth of the box after
seven days, a mouse sprang out, [and hid itself] among the
cooking pots.

' There was also a (servant) girl at the Prince's house.
The girl apportioned and gave cooked rice and vegetable
[curry] to the Prince, and covered up the cooking pots
[containing the rest of the food]. Then the Mouseling
came, and having taken and eaten some of the cooked rice
and vegetables, covered up the cooking pots, and went again
among the pots.

On the following day the same thing occurred. The
' Mi Paetikkl. It might be either a rat or a mouse.

THE MOUSE MAIDEN 309

Prince said to the girl. " Does the Mouseling eat the
cooked rice ? Look and come back." The girl having
gone and looked, came back and said, " She has eaten the
cooked rice, and covered the cooking pots, and has gone."
The Prince said, " Go thou also, and eat rice, and come
back." So the girl went and ate rice, and returned.

Next day the Prince said, " I am going to cut paddy
(growing rice). Remain thou at the house, and in the
evening place the articles for cooking near the hearth."
Then the Prince went. Afterwards, in the evening the
girl placed the things for cooking near the hearth, and
went out of the way.

The Mouseling came, and cooked and placed [the food
ready], and again went behind the pots. After evening
had come, that girl apportioned and gave the rice to the
Prince. The Prince ate, and told the girl, " Go thou also,
and eat rice, and come back." So the girl went and ate
rice, and having covered the cooking pots came to the
place where the Prince was.

Then the Mouseling came and ate rice, and covered up
the pots. After that, she said to the [other] mice, " Let
us go and cut the paddy," and collecting a great number
of mice, cut all the paddy, and again returned to the house,
and stayed among the pots. Next day when the Prince
went to the rice field to cut the paddy, all had been cut.

Afterwards the Prince came back, and saying, " Let us
go. and collect and stack [the paddy]," collected the
men, and stacked it, and threshed it by trampling [it with
buffaloes]. Then they went and called the women, and
having got rid of the chaff in the wind, brought the paddy
home.

After they had brought it, the Prince went near the place
where the cooking pots were stored, at which the Mouseling
was hidden, and said, " Having pounded this paddy [to
remove the husk], and cooked rice, let us go to your village
[to present it to your parents, as the first-fruits]."

The Mouseling said, " I will not. You go." So the
Prince told the girl to pound the paddy and cook rice, and
having done this she gave it to the Prince. ^

3IO VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The Prince took the package of cooked rice, and went
to the Mouseling's village, and gave it to the Mouseling's
mother.

The Queen asked at the hand of the Prince, " Where is
the girl ? "

The Prince said, " She refused to come."

The Queen said, " Go back to the city, and having placed
the articles for cooking near the hearth, get hid, and stay
in the house."

After the Prince returned to the city, he did as she had
told him. The Mouseling having come out, took off her
mouse- jacket, and [assuming her shape as a girl] put on
other clothes. While she was preparing to cook, the Prince
took the mouse-jacket, and burnt it.

Afterwards, when the girl went to the place where the
mouse-jacket had been, and looked for it, it was not there.
Then she looked in the hearth, and saw that there was one
sleeve in it. While she was there weeping and weeping,
the Prince [came forward and] said, " Your mother told
me to bum the mouse-jacket." So the Mouseling became
the Princess again, and the Prince and Princess remained
there.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

The notion of a skin dress that could be put off and on, and that
transformed a person into one of the lower animals, is well-known
in folk-tales. It is found in Old Deccan Days (Frere), pp. 183, 193,
where a King had a jackal-skin coat which turned him into a jackal
when he put it on, until it was burnt.

At p. 222, a Princess concealed herself by putting on the skin of
an old beggar woman. She was discovered when she removed it
in order to wash it and herself. In the end it was burnt by the
Prince she had married, and she retained her true form as a Princess.

In Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes), p. 41 S.; there is a Prince who
had a monkey skin, which he could put on and off as he wished.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (Swynnerton), p. 344,
four fairies came in the form of doves, and took ofi their feather
dresses in order to bathe. A Prince concealed one dress, and the
fairy was unable to resume her bird form and fly away.

In The Story of Madana Kama Raja, or " Dravidian Nights "
(Nate^a SSstri), pp. 56, 57, there is an account of a tortoise Prince
who had the power of leaving his shell and assuming his human

THE MOUSE MAIDEN 311

form. His mother one day saw the transformation, and smashed
the shell, after which he remained a Prince.

In Folk-Tales of Hindustan, Allahabad (Shaik Chilli), p. 54 ff.,
the daughter of the King of the Peris had the form of a monkey
while she wore a monkey's skin, and her own form at other times.
When a Prince burnt the skin she took fire, and flew away in a
blaze to her father's palace. While she was ill there, the Prince
discovered her and cured her, and she did not resume her monkey
form.

The feather-vest of the Dove-maidens — ^female Jinn — in the
Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed.), iii, p. 417 ff., is well known.
They removed it for bathiijg, and could not fly without it.

No. 55 '

Slgiris Sinno, the Giant

IN a country there was a great person called Sigiris.
Sinno. He was a very wealthy person ; under him
ten hired labourers worked.

During the time while he was in this state, Sigiris SiMo
having thought he would drink arrack (spirit distilled from
palm juice), began to drink a very little. In that way he
became accustomed to drink very largely. Afterwards
having come [home] drunk he went to beat the labourers ;
also he did not give them their wages properly. When
he had acted in this manner for many days, they, after
speaking together, gave Sigiris Sinno a good beating, and on
account of their [short] pay took the goods of Sigiris Siiino,
and went away. Then no one would give work to Sigiris
Siiino, so he drank until the goods in his house were finished.

Then, there being nothing for this one to drink or eat,
and having become like a madman, at the time when he
was walkiiig and walking about he saw a man carrying a
young coconut. Begging, " Give me that," and taking it,
he went to a travellers' resting-shed.

While he was there eating the young coconut after break-
ing it, a great number of fhes began to settle there. After
he had struck at the flies with his hand, twenty died. There-
upon this one went to a person who did tin work, and said,
" Ane ! Friend, do a little work for me and give me it."

" What is it ? " the tin worker asked.

This one said, " Cut on a sheet of tin in Tamil and Sinha-
lese, ' I killed twenty,' and give me it."

Having said, "It is good," he cut it and gave it.

BlGIRIS S1N5J0, THE GIANT 313

After he had cut and given it, this one took it, and pre-
paring a hanging board, and hanging the sheet of tin on it,
put the cord on his neck, and walked along the roads. Men
who saw this stepped on one side through fear, and went
away.

Certain Tamils having seen this at a city, said to Sigiris
Siiino, " In our country the King has a giant. Should any
one fight with him and win, the King said he will give him
a present of five hundred masuran, and the post of Prime
Minister. This being so, can you go there with us [and
fight him]," they asked.

Then Sigiris Sinno, thinking, " Let me go even should I
be struck by lightning," said, " I am able to fight with the
giant," and went to that city with the Tamils.

Having arrived there, these Tamils handed him over
to the King under whom that giant had a post. The King
asked this one, " I have a giant. Canst thou fight with the
giant and win ? '

Sigiris Sinno said instantly, " A son who has killed twenty
giants better than that one am I."

So the King said to his giant, " Now then, do what
fighting thou knowest, and conquer that one."

Then the giant said to Sigiris Siiino, " To-day you must
come and swim [against me] in the great sea for eight
days. We require from the King ten rupees in order to
get things to eat while we are swimming." Having said
this and got them, the two giants went to the shops, and
got things for the ten rupees.

Then Sigiris the Giant said to that giant, " What are these
few things ! For one meal I want six quarts of rice and
I want three bottles of arrack. I can swim for eight or ten
moht'hs."

After that, this giant thought, " I can't eat as much as
this one, and I can't drink as much, and I can't swim for
eight or ten months. Therefore I am indeed unable to
swim with this giant and beat him." He told the King so:

The King said, " Ifso, thou wilt lose."

The giant said, " At swimming I shall lose. We must
fight each other."

314 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

"It is good," said the King. Then the King asked
Sigiris Siniio, " Canst thou fight with this one ? "

Sigiris Sinfio rephed, " I will give that one one blow."

So the King said, " Fight ye each other to-morrow."

Thereupon Sigiris the Giant said, " Not to-morrow.
After a month has gone both giants will fight each other.
Having proclaimed it, and put both of us into two houses
under one roof, you must give us to eat until the month is
finished."

The King said, " It is good."

Sigiris the Giant having sought for an iron nail, from
that day dug into the wall of the house in which the giant
was [which separated their two rooms]. Having dug
[nearly through] it, when the month would be finished
to-morrow Sigiris the Giant said to that giant, " Ade !
Giant, give me a little tobacco."

That giant said, " How can I give you tobacco there ? "

Sigiris the Giant repUed, " Knock a hole through that
wall with your hand, and give me it."

" I cannot," that one said.

Then Sigiris the Giant said, " What sort of a giant art
thou, one who can't make a hole through that wall and give
me a little tobacco ! " Saying, " Look there ! Give me
it through there," Sigiris the Giant struck with his hand
at the place which he had previously bored. When he
struck it his hand made a hole through to the other side.
That giant becoming afraid at the blow, began to tremble,
and thought, " I can't win in fighting with this one."

On the following day they made them come out to fight.
The place was filled with people who had come to look on.
Sigiris the Giant thinks in his mind, " To-day is indeed my
Fate. How shall I escape ? " That giant, through fear his
thoughts were the same.

The King said, " Strike ye each other."

Having said, "It is good," each one being afraid of the
other, said, " Strike thou." Sigiris says to the other, " Thou
strike," he says. By that one and by this one not a blow
was struck.

Then the King says to Sigiris the Giant," Strike thou first."

SiGIRIS SI^TflO, THE GIANT 315

Sigiris the Giant said, " It is good," and thinking of run-
ning away, and saying to the people, addressing them
loudly, " Get to both sides, and stop there," looked round
to run off. At that, the other giant, rolling the people over,
began to run away, and the people who were there cried
" Hu," after him.

Then the King having become pleased with Sigiris Sinno,
and having given him a present of five hundred masuran,
established him in the post of Prime Minister.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province,

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. Zg— Tales of the
Punjab, p. 80 — a weaver who killed a mosquito thought himself a
hero, and eventually became the ruler of half the country.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (Swynnerton), p. 208,
a weaver killed nine flies on his arm, and called himself Nomar Khan,
the Nine-killing Prince. He became Commander-in-Chief.

No. 56
The Proud Jackal

IN the midst of a certain forest a Lion stayed. Having
joined with that very Lion, a Jackal was eating and
eating the flesh of animals killed by the Lion.

After a few days had gone by, the Jackal, becoming
arrogant, said to the Lion, " Don't say ' Jackal ' to me."

Thereupon, " What shall I say ? " the Lion asked.

Then the Jackal says, " You must call me, saying to me,
' Jackal-artificer ' (Nari nayide)."

In this way, when the Lion had said, " Jackal-artificer,"
for many days, he said, " Don't say ' Jackal-artificer.' "

" What name am I to say ? " the Lion asked.

" Say to me, ' Small Lion ' ; don't say, ' Jackal-arti-
ficer,' " he said.

After the Lion had been saying, " Small Lion," for a few
days, " Say to me, ' Great Lion ' ; don't say, ' Small
Lion,' " he said to the Lion.

Then the Lion says, " For me to say, ' Great Lion,' you
must make the Lion's roar," the Lion said.

Then the Jackal having gone near a tusk elephant, after
he had cried out, as the Lion's roar, " Hokkiye, Hokkiye "
(the beginning of the customary yelping cry of the Jackal),
the tusk-elephant kicked the Jackal.

Thereupon the Jackal died.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

In the Jataka stories 143 (vol. i, p. 306) and 335 (vol. iii, p. 75),
a Jackal who acted as a Lion's servant induced his master to let
him go out in the latter's place, in order to kill animals. He howled
and sprang at an elephant, but was crushed to death by it.

316

STORIES OF THE DURAYAS

No. 57

The Seven Robbers

IN a country there are seven robbers. Among them, in
the same gang, there is a fool. One day they went to
commit robbery. While they were there, they got a devil-
dancer's box, containing his mask and ornaments. Having
brought it, the seven persons went into a rock cave to sleep.

When they had gone there that foolish man became
hungry. After the others went to sleep that fool took out
the devil-dancer's clothes, and having looked at them put
them on.

After he had put them on, one of those men opened his
eyes. Then on account of the noise of the hells [of the devil-
dancer] the others opened their eyes also. When they saw
the man dressed in the devil-dancer's clothes they were
frightened, and saying, " A^e ! The Kohomba deity is
coming," the other six persons ran away.

As they were running, that man who had the clothes ran
after them, saying, " Stay there, stay there." While they
were running those six persons leaped over a well [in the
path]. This one also jumped, but^being held back by the
clothes he fell into the mouth of the well.

After he had fallen into the well, a woman came to draw
water. Then he placed his weight in the bucket when she
lowered it. After the woman had got to know of the weight,
striving and striving she got the bucket near the mouth of
the well. The man who had fallen, and was in it, said,
" A httle more, my mother." Then the woman hearing
this [and seeing what she thought was a demon in the well],
let go, and bounded away.

Durayd. North-western Province.

3i8 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 136, a story is given regarding twenty-
five idiots, in which is a variant of this tale. Some robbers whom
one of them was assisting left him outside a house with a basket
that he had brought out of it. While they were inside searching
for booty, he found in the basket the dress worn in representations
of a demon termed Gara Yaka, and put it on. When the robbers
came out they thought he was the demon himself, and ran off, with
the idiot at their heels. In the end, they jumped into a well, were
followed by him, and all were drowned.

No. 58

The Stupid Boy

IN a certain city there are a Gamarala, a Gama-gaeni
(his wife), and a son of theirs. The Gamarala went
to the chena. The Gama-gaeni lay down, and told the
Gama-puta (the son) to examine her head [for insects].
While he was looking through the hair she fell asleep, and
a fly settled on her head. " Ade ! Fly, do not bite our
mother's head," he said, " mother will scold me."

The fly having gone flying away, settled again on her
head. Saying, " Now then, this fly is biting mother's head
again," he placed his mother's head gently on the ground.
Then having gone and taken a rice pestle, and come back
with it, he said, " Is the fly still biting the head ? " and
struck at the fly with the rice pestle, killing his mother with
the blow.

The boy's father having come, tried to arouse her. " How
is it that mother is dead ? " he asked. The boy said, " A
fly was biting our mother's head. I struck it with the rice
pestle. Because of it she died." So the Gamarala took
the woman away and buried her.

Then he came home with the boy. Having arrived, the
Gamarala told the boy to make a pot of gruel. Having
made the pot of gruel he told the boy to take it, and they
went to the jungle to cut fence sticks. The man, cutting
and cutting the fence sticks, told the boy to draw them out,
and throw them down. Then the boy, taking the fence
sticks, threw them into the river.

Taking the pot of gruel, and making a raised platform
of sticks, he placed it on it. The Gamarala said to the boy,
" Now then, as you have come here, go and drink greul."

3U

320 VILLAGE FOLk-TALES OF CEYLON

Then the boy having gone under the stick frame, and pierced
the bottom of the pot, and made a hole through it, placed
his mouth under it, and drank a sufficient quantity. Still
the gruel comes from the pot, so the boy said to the pot of
gruel, " Father is there. Don't come out, gruel."

Having cut the fence sticks, the Gamarala came to drink
gruel. There was nothing in the gruel pot. He asked at
the hand of the boy, " Where, Ada 1 is the gruel ? "

" The gruel went but while I was saying don't go," he
said.

Then the Gamarala thought, " There is no need to keep
this boy," and having beaten him he drove him away.

As the boy was going, weeping and weeping, he met with
a Buddhist monk.^ There were two bundles in the Lord's
hand. He told the boy to take the couple of bundles.
As the boy was carrying them he asked at the hand of the
Lord, " What is there in the bundles ? "

" Palni-sugar packets,^ and plantains," he said.

The Lord asked at the hand of the boy, " What is thy
name ? "

The boy said, " My name is Aewariyakka Mulakka."

As he was coming along from there the boy lagged behind.
So the monk spoke to the boy, " Aewariyakka Mulakka,
A(Ja ! Come on quickly," he said. Then the boy ate some
packets of sugar,* and rows of plantains.*

The monk having gone to the pansala (monk's residence),
when he looked [found that] packets of sugar and rows of
plantains were missing. " Ada ! where are the other plan-
tains and palm-sugar that were in these ? " he asked.

" Lord, I am a packet eater (Mulakka), and a first-row-of-
plantains eater (Aewariyakka)," he said. " I ate them."
There and then, having beaten the boy, he chased him away.

Then, as a washerwoman-aunt was washing clothes, she
saw the boy going along, and asked him, " Can you live at
our house ? " "I can," he said. She asked his name ;
Giya (" He went ") he said was his name.

^ Unnanse. namak. In the villages, namak, " a name," takes
the place of keneh, " person ", in speaking of monks.

• Hahurun, ' Mulahun, • A^wariyakufi.

THE STUPID BOY 321

Having taken the washed clothes, and placed them in the
house, he asked at the hand of the mother for the [un-
washed] clothes that were in the house. She told him to
come [and take them]. After the boy had come in, the
mother asked at the hand of the boy, " What is your
name ? " The boy said, Awo (" He came "), and took the
clothes away.

Afterwards, because both the clothes and the boy were
missing, [the washer-woman] having searched and looked
for him, went home. On account of her going late the
washerman called her [and asked the reason]. She said,
" It is because of Giya " (the words might also mean, " It
is because he went "). A man who was in the house having
heard it, said, " A(jia ! He said Awo." ;,;j?->

While both were sa3dng, " Giya," " Awo," (" He went, he
came "), the boy took the clothes, and went to his village.

Durayd. North-western Province.

The fly-killing incident occurs in Indian Nights' Entertainment
(Swynnerton) , p. 306, in which a Buneyr man killed an old woman
by throwing a stone at a fly that was on her face.

In the Jataka story No. 44 (vol. i, p. 116), 'a boy killed his father
by striking with an axe at a mosquito that had settled on his pate,
splitting his head at the blow. In the next Jataka tale, a girl killed
her mother by aiming a blow with a pestle at the flies that had
settled on her head when she was lying down.

In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 284, there is a Kashmir story by the
Rev. J. H. Knowles, in which a bear who had become friendly with
a man, killed him by throwing a piece of rock at a bee which had
settled on his mouth. Reference is also made to a similar story in
the Journal A.S.B., vol. lii, part i, 1883.

A considerable part of the story now given is a variant of No. 10
above. I have inserted it on account of the low caste of the narrator.

When the monk repeated the boy's name on ordering him not
to lag behind, he was in reality telling him to eat the plantains
a:hd sugar, the meaning of Aewariyak ha Mulak ha being, "Eat
thou a first row of plantains ; eat thou a packet (of the sugar)."

No. 59

The Gamarala and the Washerman

IN a certain country there are a Gamarala and a Washer-
man.^ Those two persons cut a chena. As they were
cutting the chena a jungle-cock crowed. The Gamarala
said to the Washerman, " Please catch that crowing jungle-
cock, and come back."

Then the Washerman said, " Will you do the chena work
until I catch the jungle- cock and come back ? " he asked.

" Until you come I will do the chena work," he said.

From there that man came home, and remained there.
When the chena [crop] was ripening he caught the jungle-
cock, and went back.

" I shall not give thee a share of the chena," the Gamarala
said.

Thereupon the Washerman instituted a lawsuit against
him.

When they were going for it on the day of the trial, he
borrowed a cloth from the Gamarala, and went after putting
it on. When the action was being heard the Washerman
said, " He will say next that this cloth is that gentleman's."

Then the Gamarala said, " It is so indeed. If not, Bola,
whose is that cloth ? " he asked.

The Washerman said, " There ! I said so. O Lord, when
coming on accoimt of this day of the trial, was it necessary
for me to ask for a cloth from that gentleman ? Am I
without clothes to that extent ? "

After that, the judge told them to divide the chena in two,
[and each take half of it]. Afterwards, having come there
they divided it in two.

• Senawalaya.

THE GAMARALA AND THE WASHERMAN 323

Again, this Washerman and the Gamarala sowed a paddy
field (rice field). Of the paddy plants in the field, those
things that were above the ground were for the Washerman,
they said. Those which were below the ground were for the
Gamarala, they said. Having cut the paddy when the crop
ripened, they threshed it by trampling [with cattle], and the
Washerman took the paddy. Afterwards they cut the
ground ; there was nothing for the Gamarala.

Again, these two persons planted onions. This time,
those things that were above the ground were for the
Gamarala, they said. Those that were below the ground
were for the Washerman, they said. When the crop was
ready, the Gamarala having cut off the onion stumps, heaps
them up together ; the Washerman dug up and got the
onions.

After that, those two persons got a buffalo bull. The
front part of that bull was for the Washerman, they said ;
the after part lor the Gamarala, they said.

Next, the two persons got a buffalo cow. The front part
was for the Gamarala ; the after part for the Washerman,
they said. Thereupon the calves which the buffalo cow
bore belonged to the Washerman, he said. When the
Gamarala asked for calves because the front part did not
give birth to calves, " There is nothing for you," he said.

After that, the Gamarala, in order to build a house, cut
Waewarana, Kaetakala, Milla, Kolon trees (good timber trees
commonly used in building houses). The Washerman, also,
saying, " I also must build a house," cut Paepol, Eramudu,
Murunga trees (all of which are soft woods, quite useless for
any kind of work).

When the Gamarala's wife was coming near his house, the
Washerman, taking the Naekat Pota (an astrological book
which deals with prognostications), read aloud from it [these
sham prognostications regarding the results to the occupiers
if these woods be used in house building] : " For a house of
Waewarana, diarrhoea ; for a house of Kaetakala, quarrel ;
for a house of Milla, hanging ; for a house of Eramudu,
purity; for a house of Paepol, land."
[. Then the Gamarala's wife having heard this, goes and

324 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

says to the Gamarala, " You have done a foolish thing
again. We shall have only sickness and trouble if we build
the house with those trees. In the Naekat Pota it is so
written. If we use the trees that the Washerman has cut
we shall be fortunate." So the Gamarala went to the Washer-,
man, and persuaded him to exchange trees with him. Then
the Washerman built himself a good house with the
Gamarala's tree&. The trees which the Gamarala got were
of no use to him.

Durayd. North-western Province.

The incident at the trial in the first part of this story occurs in
a slightly different form in a folk-tale that I heard in Cairo. As I
am not aware that it has been published I give it here, condensing
the first portion (see No. 60).

The planting incidents are related by Rabelais, in Pantagruel,
chapters 45 and 46. For the benefit of readers in Ceylon, I give
the account : —

THE DEVIL AND THE HUSBANDMAN

This devil having arrived at the place, addressed a husbandman
and asked him what he did. The poor man replied to him that he
sowed that field of early wheat to assist him in living during the
following year. " But really," said the devil, " this field is not
thine ; it is mine and belongs to me . . . ; however, I leave thee
the field. But it is on condition we shall share the profit." " I
agree to it," replied the husbandman. " I mean," said the devil,
" that of the coming profit we shall make two shares. The one
shall be what grows above the ground, the other what shall be
covered in the earth. The choice belongs to me, for I am a devil
of a noble and ancient race ; thou art only a villein. I choose that
which will be in the ground, thou shalt have that above. When
will the reaping be ? " "In the middle of July," replied the hus-
bandman. " Now," said the devil, " I need not be present here.
In other respects do thy duty. Work, villein, work."

The middle of July having come, the devil presents himself again
at the place, accompanied by a squadron of little chorister devUets.
Meeting there the husbandman, he said to him, " And now, villein,
how hast thou been since my departure ? It is requisite to make
our division now ? " " That is right," repUed the husbandman.

Then the husbandman, with his people, began to reap the corn.
The little devils similarly drew the stubble from the ground. The
husbandman threshed his corn in the air, put it in sacks, and carried
it to the market to sell. The devilets did the same, and at the
market seated themselves near the husbandman to sell their stubble.

fHE gamarAla and the washerman 325

The husbandman sold his corn very well, and with the money filled
an old sock which he carried at his belt. The devils sold nothing,
but on the contrary the peasants jeered at them in the midst of the
market.

The market being over, said the devil to the husbandman, " Vil-
lein, thou hast cheated me this time ; at another thou shalt not
deceive me." " My Lord Devil," replied the husbandman, " how
have I cheated you who have chosen first ? True it is that in that
choice you thought of cheating me, hoping that nothing would come
out of the ground as my share, and to find, below, the whole of the
corn that I had sown. . . . But you are very young at the trade."
... " Leave this discourse," said the devil ; " with what canst
thou sow our field this following year ? " " For profit," replied
the husbandman, " and good economy it is expedient to sow rad-
ishes." " Now then," said the devil, " thou art an honest man ;
sow plenty of radishes. I shall protect them from tempests, and
shall not hail at all on them. But, understand thoroughly, I keep
as my share what shall be above ground ; thou shalt have what is
below. Work, villein, work."

The time for the reaping having come, the devil was present at
the spot with a squadron of household devilets. There, meeting
the husbandman and his people, he began to reap and coUect the
leaves of the radishes. After him the husbandman dug and drew
out the large radishes, and put them into sacks. So they went all
together to the market. The husbandman sold his radishes very
well. The devil sold nothing. What ^as worse, they jeered at
him publicly.

" I see well, villein," the devil then said, " that I am cheated by
thee. I want to make an end of the field between thee and me."

I add a variant of the cultivating caste, as some incidents
are new.

The Gamaeala and the Washerman. (Variant.)

In a certain country there is a Gamarala, it is said. A
Washerman, having come there, became friendly with the
Gamarala. Having become friendly, he takes charge of the
Gamarala's cattle for grazing. During the time while he
was grazing them the two persons chop chenas and do rice
field work.

Well then, the two persons having become very thoroughly
friends, at the time while they were thus, the cattle grazed
by the Washerman increased by a buffalo bull and a buffalo

326 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

cow. Afterwards, the Washerman having come [to the
other man] said, " Now then, Gamarahami,i we must divide
the two cattle between us." The Gamarala said, " Ha.
Let us divide them." Afterwards the Washerman having
gone and caught the two cattle, tied them up.

The Gamarala went there. Then the Washerman said,
" Now then, the Gamarahami indeed has cattle. I myself
have no cattle. Because of it, let the after portion of this
buffalo cow be for me. The front portion the Gamarahami
will be good enough to take." The Gamarala, having con-
sented to that, said, " Ha. It is good." Well then, in
complete agreement they shared the buffalo cow.

Again, to share the buffalo bull the Washerman said,
" Gamarahami, let the front side of the buffalo bull be for me,
the after side the Gamarahami will be good enough to take."
Well then, the Gamarala having consented to that also, by
the agreement of the two persons they divided the buffalo
bull also.

During the time while they were thus, the Washerman
having taken the buffalo bull ploughs for himself. The
Gamarala also one day was going to take the buflfalo bull
to plough. Then the Washerman quarrelled with him :
" The front part belongs to me ; the after part belongs to
you. I will not allow you to plough with my side," he said.*
The Gamarala having become angry came home.

The buffalo cow having gone to the Gamarala's house
eats by stealth. Men having come told the Gamarala,
" Gamarala, your buffalo cow comes to our rice field [and
eats the crop]. On that account attend well to its graz-
mg.

Then the Gamarala said, " Don't tell me. Tell that to the
Washerman."

Then the men having gone, told the Washerman," Washer-
man, the buffalo cow that you are causing to graze eats by
stealth [in our rice field]. Attend well to its grazing."

• A contraction of Gama-ralahami. Hami is an intermediate form
between swami, " lord ", and Mmi ; Wanniyas still use the latter.

^ The yoke of the plough is placed on the neck and feistened there,
on the Washerman's half of the animal.

THE GAMARALA and THE WASHERMAN 327

The Washerman said, " What are you telling me ?
Doesn't the front half belong to the Gamarahami ? Isn't
it the Gamarahami who must attend to the grazing ? " ^

The Washerman having come to the Gamarala's house,
quarrelled with the Gamarala [over it]. The Gamarala
became very angry.

Afterwards, the Gamarala went to institute a lawsuit
against the Washerman [on account of these matters]. That
day, having entered the suit, and having come back to the
village, he went to the Washerman to tell him the day of
the trial. Having told him, the Gamarala came home.

On the following day, the Washerman came to the Gama-
rala. Afterwards, the Gamarala .having given the Washer-
man to eat and drink, and having made ready to go for the
day of the trial, the Washerman said, " Gamarahami, I have
no [suitable] cloth to wear when going." The Gamarala
gave (that is, lent) him a cloth. The Washerman putting
on the cloth, both of them went for the trial-day.

After they went, the assessors ^ having assembled heard
the lawsuit. When they asked the Gamarala [regarding
the matter], the Gamarala said, " The after portion of the
buffalo cow belongs to the Washerman ; the front portion
belongs to me."

When they asked the Washerman he said, " Because the
front portion of the buffalo bull belongs to me, I will not
allow him to plough with the buffalo bull. Because the
front portion of the buffalo cow belongs to the Gamarahami,
the Gamarahami must attend to the grazing," he answered.

Then after the assessors had thus asked him they said,
" What the Washerman said is true."

Thereupon the Washerman says, " That gentleman {Rd-
hami) will now say that this cloth which I am wearing is the
gentleman's, maybe ! "

The Gamarala asked, " Yes, indeed. Whose is it, Bola,
if that cloth is not mine ? "

* Because the mouth which grazes is in the Gamarala's half of the
cow.

* Rate toissa. The word is new to me ; this appears to be the mean-
ing.

328 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Then the Washerman says to the assessors, " There ! Be
good enough to look. Didn't that gentleman just now say
that the cloth I am wearing is the gentleman's. In that
manner, indeed, he has brought this lawsuit, also."

At that time the assessors said to the Gamarala, " There is
not a thing for us to say regarding this [except that] he is to
gain [the action] against you."

Then the Gamarala having lost, came back with the
Washerman to the village.

At that time, while the Gamarala was angry with the
Washerman, the Gamarala, having said that he must build
a house for himself, and having gone to the jvmgle, cut
Halmilla, Milla, Waewarana trees ; these three sorts [of
good timber trees'].

Then the Washerman, having got news that he had cut
these woods, also went to the jung'le, and having said, " I
also must build a house for myself," cut Paepol wood,
Murunga wood, Eramudu wood ; those three sorts [of soft
useless woods]. After heaping them together, he wrote a
book [of sham prognostications] : " For the house [built]
of Halmilla, begging ; for the house of Waewarana, killing ;
for the house of Milla, begging ; for the house of Paepol,
land ; for the house of Eramudu, purity ; for the house of
Murimga, purity."

After writing these, the Washerman taking up the book
while the Gama-Mahage (the Gamarala' s wife) was going past
for water, says them over every day for the Gama-Mahage to
hear. The Gama-Mahage having heard them, said to the
Gamarala, " A book of the Washerman's says thus. Because
of it, come with the Washerman, and having given him our
small quantity of timber speak with him to allow us to take
his small quantity of timber."

Afterwards, the Gamarala having gone to the Washer-
man, asked at the hand of the Washerman, " Washerman,
give me your small quantity of timber, and take for yourself
my small quantity of timber."

Then the Washerman says, " I don't know [if I can do it].
Sir (Rdhamiye). I cannot [willingly], through sorrow [at
the loss to me], give you my small quantity of timber, indeed;

THE GAMARALA and THE WASHERMAN 329

but because the gentleman says it, any way whatever is
good. Be good enough to take it."

Afterwards the Gamarala brought [home] the Washerman's
small quantity of timber. The Washerman brought the
Gamarala's small quantity of timber. Having brought it,
the Washerman with the small quantity~of the Gamarala's
timber thoroughly built the house for himself, the Gamarala
also building the house for himself from the Washerman's
timber. When only three months had gone, the Gamarala's
house fell down, and the Gama-Mahage, having been imder-
neath it, died. The house which the Washerman built
from good timber remained in good condition.

North-western Province.

No. 60

The Two Thieves

TWO thieves at Cairo were in love with the same girl,
who promised to marry the one who showed the
greatest cleverness.

The first one assisted a rich merchant in purchasing some
cattle, and eventually purloined a bag of money which the
merchant was carrying in the large pocket in the front of his
gown, and put a similar bag in its place containing an orange
or two.

The theft was discovered when the merchant was about
to pay the money for the cattle. The robber assumed the
role of the sympathising friend, and suggested that a mistake
might have been made by the merchant's wife, and the wrong
bag given to him. The merchant went home to inquire
about it, and on his return the robber ran up to him, and
embraced and kissed him, saying, " Hallo, Friend ! I am
very glad to see you again. I hope you have succeeded in
finding your money." As he said this he put back the purse,
and took the bag of oranges.

The merchant replied, " I hope God will hear what you
say."

The thief said, " You are playing me a trick ; put your
hand in your pocket, and feel if your purse is not there."

So he put his hand in his breast pocket, and found his
bag of money there. The thief explained the matter, and
requested him to relate the particulars to the girl, who
then decided that she would marry this thief.

I give the rest of the story in full, as it was dictated to
me : —

The second thief said, " Oh ! that is nothing. I can

330

THE TWO THIEVES 33i

play a better trick than that. Will you be kind enough to
come to-morrow morning to the Government offices to see
me ? " The merchant man said, " I also will come to see the
trick.". Then the merchant went away, and the three
remained there till evening.

After dinner, the second robber went out to the cafe to
spend the time, and there he met one ^t the higher class
people. The robber said, " Salam," and sat down next this
merchant. They both smoked hashish together, and the'
thief told him, " I have just arrived from outside the city.
The four gates are now shut, and I cannot return. I do not
know where to go to sleep."

The merchant told him, " Don't you feel ashamed to say
that to me when you know what size my house is ? "

The robber said, " Thank you for the favour," and at the
ead of their smoke they went together to the merchant's
house. When the two entered, lights were put in the writing
room, with two beds for them, so that they might sleep to-
gether there.

While the merchant was fast asleep and snoring, the robber
awoke, and took the key of the money-box and the seal from
the merchant's pocket, opened the box, counted the money,
wrote a promissory note giving the amount of each kind of
money, signed it with the merchant's seal, and put all back
again as before, keeping the note. He then went to sleep
again.

Next morning they breakfasted together, becoming very
friendly, and the robber said, " Please can you lend me your
horse and a clean suit of clothes, because I must go to report
a person to the Government ? " So the merchant gave him
a clean suit and a horse, and told him, " You can change
your clothes and wash here. I must go to my office." He
then left.

The robber put on the clothes, and rode off to the Govern-
ment office, and explained his case, and asked for a man to
be sent to fetch the merchant, as he had to recover a large
sum of money from him. The Chief of the Police sent a
man to call him.

When the merchant came, the Chief of the Police asked

S32 VILLA(^E FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

him, " Why don't you pay this gentleman the money you
owe him ? "

He says, " Which gentleman ? "

" This gentleman," said the Chief of the Police, pointing
to the robber.

" This one ! "

" Yes, I am the one," said the robber.

The merchant said, " Don't you feel ashamed at saying
I owe you some money ? "

" Of course," -he replied, and then he took out the pro-
missory note, and handed it to the Chief of the Police.

The Chief of the Police looked at it, and said, " Hallo 1
That is a big amount."

The merchant asked to see it, and he looked at the list,
and said, " I have not got so much money in my box. If I
have so much in my house it must really be yours."

The Chief of the Police sent some men to bring the box to
the station, and on counting the money in it, he found it was
exactly the amount written in the promissory note. The
woman, and the other robber, and the merchant who was
tricked on the previous day were all present and listening,
and were all astonished.

The Chief of the Police said, " Well, it must be the claim-
ant's money," and he gave it to him.

The merchant was angry, so the robber said, " I suppose
you will be saying next that the horse is yours, and the suit I
am wearing " ; and when the merchant angrily demanded
them the robber requested the Chief of the Police to lock the
man up, because he was now trying to steal his horse and
clothes.

Then the merchant was locked up, and the robber left
the money in the box at the Police Station, and rode off to
his own home, where he met the woman and the first robber.
He asked them, " How do you like that trick ? "

She said, '* A very clever man you are," and she agreed
to marry him.

After three days they both went to the merchant, and
told him the whole story, and returned him the money, and
the horse and clothes. And the merchant was so pleased

THE TWO THIEVES 333

to get them back that he gave them some money to live
upon.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 297 ff., two
thieves had one wife, who agreed that she should belong only to the
one who brought her the most valuable spoil in two days. The
King executed her, as being the instigator of the robberies they
committed.

No. 61

The Margosa Tree

IN a certain city there is a King, it is said. The King
thought of growing a Margosa tree without bitterness
[in the fruit], so one day he made proclamation accordingly
by beat of tom-toms.

While two friends of one village were coming to seek a
means of subsistence they heard this sound of tom-toms.
When they asked at the hand of a tom-tom beater, " What
is the sound of tom-toms for ? " he said, " What is it ? His
Majesty our King will give presents to any person who
should grow and give him a Margosa tree without bitter-
ness." One of the friends, saying, " I can [do it]," went to
the royal palace.

" Canst thou grow and give me a Margosa tree without
bitterness ? " the King asked.

" Yes, your Majesty," he said.

" What things dost thou want for it ? " the King asked.

" I want monthly a hundred-:Weight- of sugar and a large
pot of cow's butter," he said.

After that, the King asked, " Where wilt thou grow
it?"

" I must grow it on the edge of a river," he said.

Having built and given him a house on the edge of the
river, he gave him a hundred-weight of sugar and a large
pot of butter monthly.

Seven times in succession he planted seven trees. Seven
times the seven trees were washed away by the river.

During the time while he was there in that way, the other

friend having come, asked, " Where is the tree ? "

334

THE MARGOSA tree 335

Then the friend who had planted the tree says, " Either
the King, or I, or the river." ^

The words that he said meant, " Either His Majesty the
King will die ; if not, I shall die, because of no means of
subsistence."

" Having cheated the King I get a Uving. When it is so,
the foolish King has been caught by my trick."

Duraya. North-western Province.

* Raja ho, ma ho, ganga ho. " Either the King, or I, or the
river" [floods] will come to an end {naeti wenawS). He meant
that if the periodical floods in the river did not come to an end, the
job would last during the King's life-time, and that if he gave it up
he had nothing else to live upon.

No. 62

The Gamarala's Foolish Son

WHILE a Gamarala and a Gama-gaeni (his wife) were
at a village, as there were no children to those two
for a long time they went to a Dewala, and worshipped the
Gods in order to obtain a child. After that they obtained a
child. As that child was growing up the Gamarala and
Gama-gaeni were becoming very old.

So one day the Gamarala says to the Gama-gaeni, "Before
we die we must summon and give a bride to the youth."
Having said this they summoned and gave him a small girl.

During the time while they were living thus, the
Gamarala had an illness. After that the Gamarala
died. Afterwards, while the Gama-gaeni, and the son, and
the son's wife were there, one day the wife of the Gama-
puta (son of the Gamarala) said, " Now then, let us go to my
village, and having gone there, sowing our rice field lands
let us do cultivation " ; and both of them went.

While they were there, one day, as an illness settled on the
Gama-puta's wife, the Vedarala (village doctor) went to see
her. The Vedarala asked, " What is the illness ? " h^

Then he said, " My wife has tumours which are growing
large." The Vedarala having made a medicine which was
to be rubbed [on the places], and having come to the house
gave it, saying, " Rub thou this medicine on them."

When he had been rubbing it for four or five days they grew
larger. The Gama-puta having seen this, said, " A(Ja 1
These tumours are becoming very severe. I cannot go for
medicine every day if they go on like this. Let us go to my
village." So they set off to come to the Gama-puta's
village.

As they were coming, a man was driving a bull on the

336

i THE GAMARALA'S FOOLISH SON 337

road. This Gamarala's son asked, " Where are you taking
the bull ? "

The man said, " I am taking it to my village," he said.
" Where are you going ? " he asked.

" We are going to my village. My wife has tumours. We
are going to apply medical treatment," he said.

" Where ? Let us look at them. I also know a little
medical art," he said.

Then he showed them. When the man who was taking
the bull saw them he said, "They are growing larger;
they will never become well," he said.

Then the Gama-puta thought, " This woman does not
matter to me." So he said, " It would be good for you to
give me that bull and take this woman." So taking the
bull he gave the woman.

" This one has water in his stomach (i.e., he had drunk
water) ; you will be careful," the man said.

Then having taken the bull, as he was going to the village
he took a large cloth and tied it round the middle of the bull.
While he was there after tying it, a man came, carrying a
bill-hook on his shoulder. When he saw it he asked,
" What is this doing ? "

" This one has water in his stomach ; on that account
I have tied the cloth round it," he said.

Having seen the bill-hook, ' " What is that ? " he
asked.

" This is a bill-hook," the man said.

After he asked, " What do you do with the bill-hook ? "
the man said, " Taking a packet of cooked rice and a water-
gourd, it is for cutting the jungle," he said.

When he asked, " Will you take this bull and give me the
bill-hook," the man said, ," It is good," and having given
the bill-hook went away taking the bull.

Then the Gama-puta, having taken the bill-hook, and
gone to the village, during the time while he was there
thought he would go to cut jungle. Having thought so, he
took a packet of cooked rice and a water-gourd, and the bill-
hook, and having placed them upon a rock he remained look-
ing on. Seeing that the bill-hook stayed [there] without

338 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

cutting the jungle, and thinking that it was because he was
looking at it, he came home.

Having come and eaten rice, and having gone back after-
wards, when he looked, the bill-hook having been put in tlie
sun had become extremely hot. So the Gama-puta thinks,
" The bill-hook having got fever, is it on that account it did
not eat the cooked rice and did not cut the jungle ? "

He went quickly for medicine. Having gone he told the
Veda (village doctor). The Veda having looked [at it] told
him to bury it under the frame on which the water pots were
set. Afterwards, having come home, he buried it under the
water-pots' frame. On the following da,y, after he had looked
[he found that] having become thoroughly wetted by the
water it was cold. Having seen that, he got into his mind
[the notion], " Ada ! The medical treatment is very good."

When a little time had gone, one day the Gamarala's wife
had a severe illness, having got fever. The Gama-gaeni
said, " Son, I have much fever. Having gone for medical
advice and brought a little medicine, give me it," she said.

He said, " It is good," and speedily having cut a hole under
the water-pots' frame, and put ithe Gama-gaeni in the hole,
he covered her with earth.

Afterwards when he looked, the fever having thoroughly
gone down she had become cold like a plantain tree ; and
saying, " A^a ! Mother's fever is completely well," he went
away.

Durayd. North-western Province.

In Indian Fables (Ramaswami Raju), p. 71, a variant of the last
incident is given. A man with severe fever having cooled a red-hot
poker in cold water, thought he could cool himself in the same way,
so he sat in a tub of cold water, with a fatal result.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (Swynnerton), p. 83, a
weaver got a smith to make a sickle that would cut com of itself.
He laid it beside the standing corn, which he ordered it to cut ; but
on returning he found no work done, and the sickle ill with fever,
through being in the sun. The smith to whom he applied for advice
recommended him to tie a string to it, and lower it into a well ;
this cooled it. When his mother caught fever he treated her in the
same way until she died and became cold.

No. 63
The Jackal's Judgment

AT a village there is a tank. A Crocodile, making a
burrow in the [foot of the] embankment, stayed in it.
Afterwards the mud having dried and become hard, the
Crocodile being unable to get out of the hole was going to
die.

As a man was going past to fetch a midwife-mother to
attend to his wife, the Crocodile, hearing him, said to the
man, " Somehow or other manage to save me by breaking
up the earth so that I may get out." The man broke up
the earth, and let it out.

After that, as there was no water left in the tank, the
man, placing the Crocodile on his shoulder, went to the edge
of the river. Having gone there, after he had placed it in
the water the Crocodile seized the arm of that man in order
to eat him.

" Why wilt thou eat me ? " he asked. " Dost thou
not know the help I gave thee ? Yet thou art going to eat
me!"

The Crocodile said, " It is true, indeed, regarding the
assistance. It is because I am hungry that I am going to
eat thee."

The man said, " It is good. Eat thou me. There are
my witnesses, two or three persons. First ask them [regard-
ing the justice of it], and then eat me." So they went to
ask the witnesses about it.

Having met with a Kumbuk tree, ^ he said to the Kumbuk
tree, " This Crocodile is going to eat me. I ask this one's
opinion of it/'

1 Terminalia glabra,

338

340 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

" What is that about ? "

The man said, " This Crocodile was going to die. I saved
it. It is now going to eat me. Is that right ? "

Then the Kumbuk tree says, " O Crocodile-cultivator,
do not let that man go. There is no animal so wicked as
that man. He stays near the tree in the shade, and having
broken off the bark and the leaves he takes them away. At
last he cuts down and takes the tree."

From there he goes and asks it of the Cow. " O Cow, I
saved this Crocodile from death. This Crocodile is now
going to eat me. Do you think it right ? "

The Cow says, " O Crocodile-cultivator, do not let that
man go. That man is a wicked man. He takes our milk,
and at last kills and eats us. Do not let him go."

After that he asks it of the Jackal. The Jackal asks,
" What is it about ? "

He says to the Jackal, " O Jackal-artificer, without letting
this Crocodile die, I saved it. Now it is going to eat me."

The Jackal-artiiicer says, " I cannot give this decision,
not having seen what is the meaning of it. You must show
me the whole affair from the beginning."

Then the man, placing the Crocodile on his shoulder, and
having gone with it and put it in the house in which the
Crocodile was at first, [and closed the entrance], and made
the soil hard, the Jackal says, " Now then, don't you be
afraid. I am on your side."

Then the man says, " Jackal-artificer, hear this case."

" I am both the judge and the witness," the Jackal said.
" Now then, taking a cudgel beat thou him until he dies.
I saw thy excellence and this one's wickedness."

Duraya. North-western Province.

This is one of the best-known of folk-tales. A Malay variant is
given in Mr. W. Skeat's Fables and Folk-Tales from an Eastern
Forest, p. 20. A tiger, being released from a cage-trap by a man,
seized him in order to eat him. When appealed to, the road and
tree were against him. The Mouse-deer, which in Malaya fills the
place of the clever animal in folk-tales, got the tiger to return to
the cage, and called the neighbours to kill it.

The tiger story is given in Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 198 £f.,
and the appeal was made to a banyan tree, camel, bullock, eagle.

THE JACKAL'S JUDGMENT 341

and alligator [crocodile], which were against the man. The Jackal
settled it in his favour.

In Wide- Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 116 — Tales of the
Punjab, p. 107 — the matter was referred to a pipal (or b5) tree, a
road, and the Jackal, who induced the tiger to re-enter the trap,
and left him there.

In Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes), p. 16, the matter was not referred
to others, but the Jackal told the tiger a good way of eating the
man, by getting inside a large bag and having him thrown in to it.
When it was inside the bag, the Jackal, a dog who was present, and
the man tied it up, and beat the tiger to death.

The Panchatantra (Dubois), as in several other instances, comes
nearest to the Sinhalese story. A Brahmana carried a Crocodile
in a sack from a stream to the Ganges, and was then seized by it.
In reply to his appeal to the Crocodile's virtue and gratitude, he was
told, " The virtue and gratitude of our days is to devour those who
nourish us and who do good to us." Reference was made to a
mango tree, an old cow (both of which agreed with the Crocodile),
and a Jackal, who, stating that he wished to get to the bottom of
the matter, induced the Crocodile to re-enter the sack, after which
the Jackal broke his head with a stone.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 134, a boy on
his way to fetch his bride, killed a mungus that was attacking a
snake, which then turned on him, to eat him, but gave him eight
days' grace to get married. When he returned with his wife she
remonstrated with the snake, and was referred to some trees. One
had preserved a thief in its hollow interior, but he found sandal-
wood there, and cut it down ; and now it had become a rule to do
evil for good. For the future widow's protection, the snake gave
her magic powder capable of reducing to ashes whatever it fell on,
so she applied it to the snake, and burnt it to dust.

The tale is found in West Africa also, in a form which is very
close to the South Indian and Sinhalese one. In Contes Soudanais
(C. Monteil), p. 53, a child found a tired Crocodile, and carried
it back to water. The Crocodile asked if he knew how goodness
was rewarded. " By evil," the child said. The Crocodile was
going to eat him, but referred the matter to an old horse and an
old ass (both of which recommended it to do so), and lastly to a
Hare, which refused to believe that the child could have carried it.
When this was proved, and the Crocodile taken back, the Hare said
to the child, "Doesn't thy father eat Crocodile ? " " Yes." " And
thy mother ? " " Yes." " Hast thou not an axe ? " "I have
one," the child replied. " Then break the Crocodile's head and
eat it," the Hare said. In many West African tales the Hare is the
clever animal who outwits the others.

No. 64

The Heron and the Crab

THERE is a great big mountain. On the mountain there
is a rock-hole [containing water]. In it there are
some small fishes. At all other places a Heron ^ eats the
small fishes. In this rock-hole the Heron cannot eat the
small fishes ; he goes along [in the air], above the rock cave.

On account of it, the Heron puts on a false appearance.
" I am indeed an ascetic," he said. " I do not kill living
creatures," he said.

Thereupon the small fishes came for a talk. After they
came he said, " Being in this hole ye cannot go up and
down," he said. " Because it is so, I will take you and put
you in a river possessing length and breadth," he said.

After that, having taken them one by one he ate them.
At the time when he was taking the Crab which remained
over from them, the Crab took hold of the neck of the Heron.
While on the way, when the Heron was preparing to kill the
Crab, the Crab getting to know of it, cut the neck of the
Heron with his claws and killed it.

Duraya. North-western Province.

The Pond Heron. (Variant.)

At the time of a great drought the water of a pool having
nearly dried up, the fishes " saw that they were coming near
dying. A Pond Heron ^ which saw it, having very speedily
come flying, spoke to the fishes : " Friends, I will go and

* KohkS, a word which also means Egret, and some other large
wading birds.

« Liila [Ophiocephalus striatus).
' Kanakoka {Ardeola grayi).

THE HERON AND THE CRAB 343

conduct you to a pool in which there is much water," he
said. They were pleased at it.

The Pond Heron holding one by his bill, and having gone
and put it down at the pool in which there was water, again
brought it near those that were in the pool at which the water
had dried up, and let it go. The fish which he brought
informed them that there was a pool in which there was
water, in the way the Heron said. All the fishes that were
in the dried-up pool became wishful to go.

Now then, the Pond Heron having taken them one by
one, leaving aside the pool in which there was water, took
them to a tree near it, and ate them. After not many days
the fishes were finished ; the Pond Heron ate all. Having
eaten them, below the tree on which he put them there was
a heap of bones to the extent of a tree in height.

Afterwards having seen that a Crab was in the dried-up
pool, the Pond Heron spoke to it : " Friend, you also come
to be conducted there," he said.

The Crab also spoke to the Pond Heron : " Friend, my
shell is very thin," he said.

" I will take you carefully," the Pond Heron said. After
he had said it the Crab became wishful to go.

The Pond Heron took hold of his shell, and the Crab took
hold of the neck of the Pond Heron with his two claws.
Having taken hold of him the Pond Heron flew away.
Havipg seen that, leaving the pool on this side, he was flying
to the tree, the Crab spoke to him. " The pool is here,"
he said.

" I am taking thee to eat," the Pond Heron said.

At that time having seized the two claws the Pond Heron
killed him.

Washerman. North-western Province.

The Pond Heron. (Variant.)

In a certain country a Pond Heron stayed, it is said.
At the time while the Pond Heron was there, seeking small
fishes in the tanks, a gteat general drought befel. On
account of it all the tanks dried up. The Pond Heron ate
all the small fishes that stayed in them.

344 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Having eaten them, he remained hungry for two or three
days, there being no more small fishes. Having been in that
state, and having flown away to seek food, as he was going
along he saw that a tank having dried up, small fishes were
there, being unable to go elsewhere.

The Pond Heron having gone there, asked the small fishes,
" What, friends, are you there for ? "

Then the small fishes said, " Ane ! Friend, the little water
that there was for us having dried up, we are without water."

After that, the Pond Heron said, " If so, friends, there is
a good river for you. I will take you to it, and put you
down there."

The httle fishes said, " It is good, friend. If so, take us
and put us down there."

The Pond Heron said, " If so, let one come [first, and see
the river]," and holding it with his bill he took it to the
river, and put it down.

That small fish going in the water all rotmd the river came
near the Pond Heron. Then the Pond Heron having said
to the small fish, " Let us go, friend," the small fish said,
" Friend, I cannot go."

The Pond Heron said, " No, friend, let us go. Can you
remain, without going ? Your other people are to come."

Afterwards the small fish said " Ha." So the Pond
Heron, taking the small fish with his bill, came fljdng back.
Having come to a great rough tree, and settled on a branch
of the tree, he ate the small fish.

Again he went flying to the place where the small fishes
were. The small fishes asked, " Friend, one of us went with
you. Where is he ? "

The Pond Heron replied, " Friends, he said he would not
come. He stayed in the river."

Then those small fishes said, " If so, go with us, and put
us down in it."

After that, the Pond Heron, taking one of them, settled
on the tree at which he ate that small fish,' and ate it. Again
he came to the place where the other small fishes were.
Then those small fishes said, '■' Friend, take us also, and put
us in the river." . ,

THE HERON AND THE CRAB 345

The Pond Heron again having taken a small fish and
settled on that very tree, ate it. Thus, in that way having
taken the small fishes until they were finished, he ate them
all.

Having finished the small fishes, a Crab was omitted out-
side. The Pond Heron came and asked the Crab, " What,
friend, are you here alone for ? "

The Crab said, " Ane ! Friend, the small fishes of this
tank went to the quarters where they went. I alone re-
main."

Then the Pond Heron said, " Friend, shall I take you
also to the river, and put you down in it ? " The Crab said
" Ha."

Afterwards the Pond Heron, holding the Crab with his
bill, took it and settled on the tree on which he ate the
small fishes. While he was there the Crab asked, " What,
friend, have you delayed here f or ? "

Then the Pond Heron said, " It is here that I ate also the
few small fishes that stayed in the tank. It is here I shall
eat you also."

Afterwards the Crab, having stiffened his claws a little,
seized the neck of the Pond Heron. Then the Pond Heron
with his bill tightened his hold of the Crab. Thus, in that
way holding each other, both of them died, and fell on the
ground below the tree.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

The Jataka story No. 38 (vol. i, p. 96), about a Crane and a Crab,
nearly agrees with the second of these tales, but the ending is like
that of the first one, the Crab killing the Crane. It is also much
more artificial and developed in the conversations.

It is possible that the story related by the DurayS may represent
a very early form of the tale, or perhaps the original one. If the
story were derived from the Jataka tale, it is very improbable that
in a country where ponds are more numerous than in any other,
we should find the pool of the Jataka, to which the fishes were to
be taken, displaced in two of these by a river.

The story is given in Indian Fables (Ramaswami Raju), p. 88.
A Crane pretended to carry the fish to a pond, and was killed by a
Crab.

In Skeat's Fables and Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest, p. 18,
the bird was a Pelican, which was killed by a Crab.

346 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

In the Panchafantra (Dubois), a Cormorant came to tixe fishes
at a pool, and allayed their suspicions by putting on an appearance
of piety and by alleging that he had become a religious devotee.
He informed them that he foresaw a twelve years' drought, in which
the pools would dry up and they would perish, and he offered to
transport them to a mountain pool fed by a perennial spring. They
were eaten on a rock, and the Crab strangled the bird.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 31, the animals
were a Crane and a Mahara, which is said by the translator to gener-
ally mean a crocodile, though in early carvings in Ceylon and India
it is a fabulous animal with two short legs and a tail usually curved
upon its back. The bird frightened the fish by saying that a man
was coming to catch them with a net, and he offered to convey them
to a lake. When the Makara was taken to the rock at which the
others were killed, he cut off the Crane's head.

This story nearly agrees with that in the Hitopadesa, in which a
Crab killed the bird-

No. 65

The Jackal and the Brahmana

IN a certain city a Jackal according to custom was eating
the fowls, it is said. Now, as the Jackal was there
eating the fowls, by degrees he finished all the fowls in that
manner. There was still one fowl at the royal palace.

So this Jackal went to the royal palace to eat the fowl.
After he had come there the Jackal tried to catch it, and
while he was there striving to eat flie fowl it became light.
There being no means of going away because of the people,
he sought a place in which to remain hidden. As he was
seeking it, except that there was open groimd and no jmigle,
when he looked there was only a clump of weeds as a hiding
place.

While he was in it peeping out, a Brahmana comes near.
This Jackal asked, " You Brahmana 1 Where art thou
going ? " he asked.

The Brahmana says, " I am going in search of a liveli-
hood."

The Jackal says, " I will give thee a means of subsistence ;
carry me here and there," he said.

Then the Brahmana taking the Jackal slimg him by his
four legs. " Dost thou carry me by the legs to some place
to give a livelihood to thee ? " he said.
, " If not, how shall I carry thee ? " the Brahmana asked.

Then the Jackal says, " Having placed me in thy upper
garment take me up and go," he said. " Look here ! Take
me and go thou along the road which leads to this jungle,"
he said. " Having taken me and gone on it there will be
a clump of wild dates. Do thou put me down near the

clump of wild dates," he said.

347

348 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

So the Jackal came to the open ground in the bundle.
Then the Jackal told this Brahmana, after he had placed
the bundle on the ground, to stay looking in the direction of
the sun. Having remained looking in the direction of the
sun, he told him to look in the direction of the clump of wild
dates, and to take the kahawanas (coins) which were placed
in it. When he had looked in the direction of the clump of
wild dates, the rays of the sun having entered his eyes a
yellow colour went into everything, and he thought he saw
some money in it.

So the Brahmana crept into the clump of wild dates and
passed his hand through it, and looked through it. Then
because there were no kahawanas, he came out into the
open ground.

When he looked on the path there was no Jackal. Then
the Brahmana said, " There is neither the journey that I
came for, nor the kahawanas. A(Ja ! A(Ja ! " So he went
away.

Durayd. North-western Province.

In this story we find one of the lowest castes of the Chandalas
making fun of the highest caste of all, a mild revenge for their treat-
ment by the latter. As part of the joke, the Jackal is represented
as addressing the Brahmana in the manner in which the latter would
have spoken to a Duraya, and as being carried about by him, thus
turning the tables completely, the chief duty of the Durayas being
carrying loads for others.

In the Jataka story No. 113 (vol. i, p. 255) a Jackal having
overslept himself in some bushes in Benares, concealed himself
until a Brahmana came near. By promising him two hundred
gold pieces he induced the man to carry him concealed under
his robe until they reached the cremation ground. There he
told him to dig up a tree in order to get the treasure, and then
ran o£E while the man was occupied with the work.

No. 66

The Cat who guarded the Precepts

A CAT having seen that a sun-dried fish was in a bag of
rice, at the time when he was going to it to eat it, a
rosary [hanging there] fell on his neck.

After it had fallen, as he was going away with it on his
neck a Jungle-hen met him, and ran off. The Cat then
says, " I am guarding (that is, keeping) the Precepts (of
Buddha, sil rakinawd). Tummal Kitti,^ come here and go
with me."

While he was taking her with him they met with a Ground
Cuckoo. He called this one ; " ' Bug-bug '-singing Kaccale,^
I am guarding the Precepts. Come here and go with me."

As they were going they met with a Hare. He called
him also : " Tokka ' the Devil-dancer, come here and go
with me. I am guarding the Precepts."

Having gone to a rock cave [as a pansala or monk's resi-
dence], while they were there the Cat said, " Tokka the
Devil-dancer, Tummal Kitti having scratched [the ground]
in the pansala has defiled it. I must kill this one," he said.

When the Hare said, "It is good," he killed her.

After the Cat had said, "It is not a fault to eat a dead
one, is it ? " when the Hare replied, " No, there is not any
fault in it," he ate her.

Afterwards the Cat said, " Tokka the Devil-dancer, this

1 Triple-wreathed famous one.

' Probably, " He that moves about in the jungle," derived from
the Tamil words kadu, jungle — in compounds, katfu — and salam,
Skt. cala, moving, unsteady. The bird is Centrococcyx rufipennis,
which utters a booming call, and has red eyes.

' Tamil, ionku, to move with leaps, Skt. >^ twang, to leap, gallop
+ ha, doer.

349

350 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

' Bug-bug '-singing Kaccale has been drinking arrack (palm
spirit) until his eyes have become red." When he said,
" I must kill this one," he killed it. Then saying, " There
is no fault in eating a dead one," he ate it.

Then he said, " Tokka the Devil-dancer, thou having
dropped dung in the pansala art defiling it." When he
said, " I must kill thee," the Hare said, " Yes, killing me is
virtuous and proper. I must first perform a great gallop *
and a little gallop, two, gallops.* After that there will be
no fault if you kill me," he said.

" Yes, perform them," the Cat said.

Then the Hare having run round [the cave], " There !
The small gallop," he said. Again having gone running
round, and [then] having jumped over the Cat's head, while
he was running away he said, " There ! The great gallop,"
and ran oH.

Durayd. North-western Province.

How THE Cat became an Upasaka.^ (Variant.)

At a certain time, at the house of a Gamarala, milk having
been taken and placed on the shelf by him [to curdle], the
Gamarala went to the chena.

There is a Cat at the house. The Cat having looked [to
see] when the Gamarala was not there, went to the shelf
to eat the curds by stealth. Having gone there and eaten
them by stealth, as he was coming away the Gamarala
came home from the chena, and the Cat, becoming afraid,
sprang down.

The Gamarala's rosary was hanging on the shelf. As the
Cat deceitfully was springing down, the rosary fell on the
Cat's neck. Then while the rosary was on its neck it goes
away. Why ? Should the Gamarala get to know about its
eating the curds he would thrash it inordinately.

Well then, as it was going it met with a Rat. The Rat
[seeing the rosary] asked the Cat, " Upasakarala,* where
are you going ? "

' Maha tokkama. ' Tokkam dekak. ' Lay devotee.

* Rata is an honorific termination, nearly equivalent to our Mr.

THE CAT WHO GUARDED THE PRECEPTS 351

" I am going to guard the Precepts," he said. " You
also come and go along with me," he said.

At the time when the two were going they met with the
Squirrel called the Three-lined Chief.i " Upasakarala,
where are you going ? " he asked.

" We are going to guard the Precepts. You also come
and go with us," he said. The Squirrel having said, " Ha.
I will come," the three went along [together].

As they were going they met with the Ground Cuckoo
called Bum-bum the Tom-tom Beater. " Where, Upasa-
karala, are you going ? " he asked.

" We are going to guard the Precepts. You also come,"
he said.

The Ground Cuckoo having said, " Ha. If so, I also
will come," the four went together.

At the time when they were going they met with the
Hare called Tokkan the Devil-dancer. " Upasakaralas,
where are you going ? " he asked.

" We are going to guard the Precepts. You also come
and go with us," he said.

Well then, the five went to the jungle. Having gone
on and on, there was a rock cave. Having said, " Look
there ! Our pansala," he told the people to creep inside.
" In order that I may go and rehearse the Precepts, let no
single other person besides cause any disturbance," he said.

Then the Rat, being hungry during the night, was wrig-
gling about. So the Upasaka Cat said, " Ade ! While
Bum-bum the Tom-tom Beater stays there quietly, while
the Three-lined Chief stays there [quietly], while Tokkan
the Devil-dancer stays there [quietly], this one does not
take [to heart] the things that were said. Being on guard
over it I must put it out of the way." * Saying this, he
ate the Rat.

At the daybreak watch the Ground Cuckoo crowed [as
usual]. After it had crowed, the Cat said, " While the
Three-lined Chief stays there [quietly], while Tokkan the

' Tun-iri Mudiyanse, (Sciurus tri-striatus), a small squirrel with
three yellow dorsal lines.

• Lit. " Having guarded, I must place it."

352 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Devil-dancer stays there [quietly], because this one is
making noises, and as I am on guard over it, I must put it
out of the way," and seizing that one also he ate it.

As it became light in the morning, at the time when the
Squirrels were singing, " Ti^-Tiij," the Three-lined Chief also
sang. "Ti^-Ti?."

Then the Cat said, "While Tokkan the Devil-dancer
stays there quietly, and I stay here [quietly], this one hav-
ing said it through arrogance, and as I am on guard over
it, I must put it out of the way." Having said this he ate
that one also.

\i Now then, the Hare called Tokkan the Devil-dancer
ascertaining that he was eating it, began to cry in the
morning.

" What, Tokkan the Devil-dancer, are you crying for ? "
he asked.

" I know thoroughly how to dance dances. Because there
is no one to look at the dances I was sorry," he said.

After he had said, " If so, dance a little for me to look
at it," the Hare said, " Upasakarala, open the doorway
so that a little light may fall into the cave. Having seen
my dance you must eat me also," the Hare said.

When he moved from the door, out of the way, for a
little light to fall inside, the Hare, having jumped to the
four comers of the cave, springing over the head of the Cat
went~away.

P. B. Maiahafola, Ratemahatmaya. North-western Province.

How THE Cat performed Bell Worship. (Varian t.)

In a certain country a man reared a Cat, it is said. The
Cat every day goes to eat by stealth in the villages. On
account of it the man one day caught the Cat, and having
tied a hawk's bell i on its neck, let it go.

After that, the Cat, without going that day into the
village, went away along the path. As it was going along
it met with a Rat. The Rat asked the Cat, "Where,
Cat-Lord, are you going ? "

* Mini-gedi.

THE CAT WHO GUARDED THE PRECEPTS 353

Then the Cat said, " I am going for Bell Worship."

The Rat asked, " Shall I come too ? "

The Cat said, " It is good."

The Rat also having set off/ as the two were going away
they met with a Squirrel. The Squirrel asked the Cat,
" Where, O Cat-Lord, are you going ? "

Then the Cat said, " I am going for Bell Worship."

The Squirrel asked, " Shall I come too ? "

After that, the Cat said, " It is good."

Now then, the Squirrel having set off, as the three were
going away they met with a Jungle-cock. The Jungle-
cock asked the Cat, " Where, O Cat-Lord, are you going ? "

Then the Cat said, " I am going for Bell Worship."

The Jungle-cock said, " I shall come too." '

To that the Cat said, " It is good."

The Jungle-cock having set off, the four persons went
to a great rock cave in the jungle. Having made those
three remain in the direction of the comer, the Cat stayed
at the doorway.

After being there [a short time], the Cat first of all said
to the Rat, " O Rat,i I am hungry."

Then the Rat said, " Let it be according to the wish of
the Cat-Lord." After that, the Cat, seizing the Rat, ate it.

In a little more time the Cat said to the Squirrel, " O
Squirrel,^ I am hungry."

At that time the Squirrel also said, " Let it be according
to the wish of the Cat-Lord."

So the Cat having seized the Squirrel also, ate it.

In a little more time the Cat said to the Jungle-cock,
" O Jungle-cock,^ I am hungry." '

At that time the Jungle-cock said falsely, " Let it be
according to the wish of the Cat-Lord."

Afterwards, when the Cat was approaching very near the
Jungle-cock, having sprung at the Cat's face and with his
spurs having plucked out both his eyes, the Jungle-cock
flew away. The Cat there and then died.

Cultivating Caste. North-western Province.

1 Miyane, ^ Lmane, ^ Wali-kukulane.

354 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

The Precepts of Buddha to which reference is made in the first
two stories, are the Ata-sil, or Eight Precepts, the keeping of which
by lay devotees, called Upasakas, is a necessary obligation. The
first one prohibits the taking of life. The others are against theft,
immorality, lying, drinking intoxicants, eating after noon, attend-
ance at theatrical amusements, dancing, singing, etc., and personal
adornment.

In the Jataka story No. 128 (vol. i, p. 281) there is an account of
a Jackal who pretended to lead a saintly life, standing on one leg
because the earth could not support his weight if he stood on all
four, he said. He ate the rats which came to pay their respects to
him, always seizing the hindmost as they left. The King of the
Rats waited till the others had gone, and then sprang at the Jackal's
throat and killed him. The next story, No. 129, is similar.

In No. 384 (vol. iii, p. 170) a Crow pretended to be a saint, and
also stood on one leg for the same reason, saying that it fed only on
wind. When the other birds left it in charge of their young ones
it ate them. At last it was killed by the other birds.

In the Mahd Bhdraia (Udyoga Parva) a Cat which pretended to
be an ascetic killed the mice that placed themselves under its pro-
tection.

In the Hitopadesa a Cat which gained the confidence of the tods
by its pious demeanour ate their young ones.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 67, a pious Cat
killed a hare and a bird.

No. 67

The Lizard and the Leopard

AT a village there are a Leopard and a Lizard.^ The
Lizard and Leopard cut a chena, it is said. After-
wards both having quarrelled they divided the chena be-
tween them. In the part which the Lizard got he planted
Kaekiri creepers, which became large ; in the part which the
Leopard got the Kaekiri died, and he abandoned it.

Then the Leopard ate the Kaekiri fruit in the Lizard's
chena, and after eating rubbed himself on his hams over
the fruits that were on the ground. So the Lizard gave
some Kaekiri fruits to the smith, and having got a small
knife made took it away. After getting it made, the Lizard
ran it through some plucked Kaekiri fruits [and left it
there].

Afterwards the Leopard came to eat Kaekiri. Having
eaten, he rubbed himself' on the plucked Kaekiri fruits.
Then the knife pierced him. Over this matter the Leopard
and Lizard quarrelled. Afterwards the Leopard, having
eaten cattle flesh, became strong again.

One day the Leopard told the Lizard that the Gamarala
had a chena. The Lizard said, " Ade ! Where is it ? Let
me look at it." Having gone with him to it, the Leopard
shows him the fruits and says, " Ade ! Lizard, eat thou
there. Lizard, eat thou here." The Gamarala having
heard it and having gone home, began to laugh. The
Gama-Mahage (his wife) asked, " What are you laughing
at ? " The Gamarala said, " A Leopard sitting in the
chena was saying and saying to a Lizard, ' Eat thou there,
Lizard. Eat thou here. Lizard.'"

1 Kaiussa {Calotes sp.), a small lizard with a long tail, and spikes
on the back, commonly called " Bloodsucker " in Ceylon.

365

356 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Afterwards, when the Lizard was in the chena the Leo-
pard goes to the house of the Gamarala and says, " Gama-
rala, see ! The Lizard is eating thy chena." Then the
Gamarala scolded him and said, " I heard thee telling the
Lizard, ' Eat thou there. Lizard. Eat thou here. Lizard.' "

Then the Leopard went to the Lizard, and said, " Friend,
take thou my piece of chena, and give me thy piece of
chena." Because the Lizard was afraid he said, " It is
good," and they exchanged chenas. The Lizard planted
the abandoned piece in a thorough manner. The Leopard
ate the fruits in the part which he got, until they were
finished.

After that, the Leopard went to the Lizard again, and
said, " Friend, let us exchange chenas again." The Lizard
felt anger which he could not bear, but because he was
afraid he said again, " It is good," to that also.

Afterwards, the Lizard went to a man, and asked him to
tell him a way of succeeding, so as to fight the Leopard.
The man said, " When he asks you again, say you will not.
The Leopard will come and quarrel with you. Then say,
' We cannot fight in that manner. You go, and after
asking your mother about a means of success, return. I
will go, and after asking my mother about a means of suc-
cess, will return.' Having said it and come away, and
having rolled in the mud and dried it, and again rolled in
the mud and dried it, by rolling in the mud and doing thus
you will become big. After that go to fight. The Leopard's
claws will not enter your body." All this the man told
the Lizard.

Afterwards, one day the Leopard said, " Let us exchange
chenas." The Lizard told him as the man said. When
the Leopard went to his mother she told him to rub coconut
oil over his body.

The Lizard having gone to a mud holte, jumps into it,
and climbs onto a post to dry the mud. Again it jumps
into the mud and chmbs onto the post. Thus, having
acted in that manner he caused much mud to be smeared
on his body.

After that, having met each other, the Leopard and

THE LIZARD AND THE LEOPARD 357

Lizard quarrelled again, and struck each other on the face.
Then the Lizard springs on the Leopard's back and
scratches his flesh. The Leopard jumps about, but only
scratches mud off the Lizard.

Having fought in that way, the Leopard, becoming afraid,
went away. The Lizard went and washed off the mud.
The Leopard having gone and crawled under the com store
at a house, while sitting there says, " Bite thou me here,
too. Lizard. Bite thou me here, too. Lizard." ^ While he
was there saying it he saw a boy [near him]. Then the
Leopard says, " Ade ! Do not tell any one, or I will kill
thee." Because of it, the boy being afraid did not tell
any one.

Afterwards the Leopard, thinking, " The boy will tell
it," came while the boy ^ was asleep on the bed [in the
veranda], and having crept under the bed, lifted it on his
back and went off with it, in order to eat him. When the
boy awoke and saw that the Leopard was going along
carrying him, he caught hold of a branch and hung by it.
After the Leopard, having gone a long distance, looked
back the boy was not there.

Then the Leopard came running back to seek him.
Having seen that the boy was on a branch, the Leopard
asked, " Art thou descending to the ground, boy ? I
shall eat thee."

The boy said, " A^e ! Bola, art thou saying Bana ? '
I have no means of stretching out my hands to descend,"
he said.

" What is in thy hands ? " he asked.

" In this hand I have small Lizard's eggs ; in this other
hand I have large Lizard's eggs," he said. " A sort of
Lizards as big as Talipat trunks and Coconut trunks will be
coming."

1 Perhaps this means that the Leopard found some places where
the Lizard had not yet bitten him.

' A variant says it was the Gamarala.

3 " Art thou reciting the Buddhist Scriptures ? " Used colloqui-
ally with the meaning, " What nonsense you are talking."

358 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Then the Leopard, saying, " Stay thou there, boy, until
I have run a httle far," bounded off and ran away.

Durayd. North-western Province.

In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 117 fi., the latter part of this tale was
given by Miss J. A. Goonetilleke, containing the fight of the animals
and the incidents that follow it. The animals were a " Bloodsucker "
Lizard and a " tiger," a word often used in Ceylon where " leopard "
is intended to be understood. There are no tigers in Ceylon.

An incident Uke that in the chena, in which the knife wounded
the Leopard, is found in Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 177. In it a
barber tied a knife to a cucumber, and it wounded a Jackal who
began to eat the fruit.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 240 — Tales of the
Punjab, p. 227 — a woman who was being carried off by robbers
while on her bed, seized a branch and climbed up a tree when they
paused under a Banyan tree. The same incident is given in The
Orientalist, vol. i, p. 40.

With regard to the fear of the lizard which the leopard is described
in the Sinhalese story as exhibiting, I am able to state that it is not
much exaggerated. Many years ago, on returning to my bungalow
one day, at a tank in a wild part of the jungle, I found that a lizard
of the species mentioned in this tale — a Katussa or " Bloodsucker "
— ^had entered my bedroom. I brought up a tame, full-grown
leopard which I then had, and introduced it to the lizard, as a new
experience for it. At first it was inclined to play with the lizard,
but on pretending to seize it with its mouth it felt the spikes on the
lizard's back, and immediately showed the greatest fear of it. The
attempts which it made to escape when the lizard came in its direc-
tion were quite ridiculous, and it became so terrified that I was
obUged to take it away to the security of its den, a large packing-
case under a tree to which it was tethered, leaving the lizard the
complete master of the situation, though probably nearly equally
alarmed .

No. 68

The Lion and the Jackal

WHILE an old Lion was in a rock cave, after a Jackal
went there the Lion says, " Ane ! Bola, I have
been thinking of eating fresh pig's flesh." When he said,
" When I ran and sprang at some Boars now I couldn't
catch one," the Jackal said, " If it come near this cave can't
you seize it. Sir ? "

" In that way I can still do it. But will a Boar come
near me ? The thing you are saying would be a wonder."

The Jackal says, " Somehow or other I will bring a Boar."

The jackal having walked about in the jungle, and hav-
ing seen a Boar, says, " How many days have I now been
seeking thee ! " After he had said, " Why should I be of
assistance to thee ? " the Boar says, " Uwah ! Why is
there so much need of it by me ? Thou wilt not be of any
assistance to me."

The Jackal said, " Our King is there, haying now become
old. Is it true or not. Cultivator, that as he told me to
seek a person to give the sovereignty to, I have been going
about seeking thee ? If not, am I telling lies ? Come
along and go there with me."

Having gone near the Lion, taking him with him, the
Jackal says, " Now then, having gone near the King and
made obeisance, take -the sovereignty." As the Boar was
approaching in great fear the Lion sprang at him. After
he had seized him, the Boar, pushing off his paws, bounded
away.

Then the Jackal says, " Did a thunderbolt strike you,
Sir ? Why didn't you hold the Boar ? "

The Lion says, " Ane ! Bola, did I fail ? Are you saying

359

36o VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

it falsely ? When will such a Boar come near me again ? "

As the King was sorrowful the Jackal says, " Are you
mad, Sir, that you doubt my powers ? I will bring that
one again now."

The Jackal having gone on the path on which the Boar
went, and having seen the Boar says, " What is the matter
with thee ? Ade ! Did a thunderbolt strike thee, that
thou camest bounding away ? "

The Boar says, " What did I come away for ? Truly, I
was running away. If I had stayed there it would be seen
why ! "

Then the Jackal says, " If thou hadst stopped he wouldn't
eat thee. Art thou a person afraid to have the sovereignty
bestowed on thee ? What was it ? Except that he merely
looked at thee he did not attempt to eat thee. Cultivator.
If he had done so wouldst thou be thus ? ^ No. Did he
attempt the crime of eating thee ? " [At last the Boar
agreed to return to the Lion.j

Afterwards, when they went near the Lion together, the
Jackal says, " Friend, go without fear, and tell him to
hand over the sovereignty." In that manner the Boar
went near the Lion.

Having sprung with great force on the neck of the
Boar, and broken the neck, and broken the bone of the
head, as he was going to eat the brains the Jackal said,
" Don't."

When the Lion asked, " Why not, Bola ? " the Jackal
says, " Though you. Sir, exercise the sovereignty your
wisdom is less than ours. Do kings eat and drink in that
manner ? " After he had said, " Blood has fallen on your
body. Sir. Having gone to the river, bathing and drying
your body there, and having returned, be good enough to
eat sitting down," the Lion went to bathe.

After he had caused him to go, the Jackal ate the Bo^ar's
brains, and remained there silently. The Lion having come
back, and taken the skull in his paws, sought for the brain
in order to eat it. When he said, " There is no brain," the
Jackal said, " Sir, don't you know so much ? Having

* Ehema nan ehemada, " If so (would it be) so ? "

THE LION AND THE JACKAL 361

once escaped death and gone away, would he again be
caught for kiUing if he had had brains ? That one had no
brains," he said.

Durayd. North-western Province.

How THE Jackal Cheated the Lion. (Variant.)

In a more ancient time than this, a Lion King dwelt in a
certain forest. A Jackal who lived in that very forest,
establishing a friendly state with the Lion began to reside
near him. Should I state the mutual trust of them both [it
was this] — the Lion knew that although by the aid of the
Jackal's means of success (that is, advice and stratagems),
the Lion was seizing and eating the flesh of other animals,
he did not get from the Jackal any other assistance that
ought to be given.

When a little time had passed in that way, it was evident
that the Jackal's body was becoming very fat. The Lion
saw it, and assuming a false illness remained lying down
at the time when the Jackal came. Having seen it, the
Jackal made obeisance to the Lion, and asked, " What, O
Lord, are you lying down for ? Has some ailment befallen
Your Majesty ? Are you not going to hunt to-day ? "

Then the Lion said, " My friend Jackal, a headache
having afflicted me to-day, I am in a very serious state.
From this time onward, having hunted, and eaten only the
small amount of the brains of the animals, I will give thee
all the rest of the flesh. Do thou subsist on it. For the
reason that I am not well enough to go to hunt this day,
thou and I, both of us, must remain hungry. Art thou
unable to go hunting [alone] this day only ? " he asked.

Thereupon the Jackal said to the Lion, " O Lord, is that
which should be done a difficult thing ? Your Majesty
will stay thus. I will go, and will return calling some animal
or other [to come] near Your Majesty." Having instructed
him to spring up and seize it as soon as it comes, the Jackal
went to seek animals.

While going for this purpose [it saw that] a Goat was tied
in a field. Having told many falsehoods to the Goat it
returned, inviting it [to come] near the Lion. Then the

362 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

Lion sprang to seize it. Thereupon the Goat, having become
afraid, ran away. The Jackal went [after it], and causing
it to turn back again, returned [with it].

Then the Lion, having killed the Goat, went to bathe in
order [to purify himself, so as] to eat the small quantity of
brains. In the meantime the Jackal removed the brains,
and having eaten them replaced the skin.

The Lion having returned after bathing, when he came
to split open the skin in order to eat the brains, saw that
there were no brains. Having seen it, the Lion asked the
Jackal, " Where are my brains ? "

Thereupon the Jackal said, " O Lord, if this one had any
brains would it have come twice near Your Majesty ? It
came twice because it had no brains." So sa5dng the
Jackal ate the small quantity of flesh also.

Western Province.

Improbable as the notion appears that an animal, other than
insects or fishes, would return into the same danger shortly after
escaping from it, one instance of this has come under the ob-
servation of myself and a friend, with whose approval I insert this
account of the occurrence.

As Mr. H. E. H. Hayes, late of the Public Works Department,
Ceylon, was walking one day near the water, at the embankment of
the Vilankulam tank in the Northern Province, a crocodile made
its appearance suddenly in the water near him, apparently attracted
by his young terrier. He. fired a charge of snipe shot at its head,
and it disappeared.

He and I went to the spot on the following day. I remained on
the look-out on the top of the bank, while he was partly hidden
behind a tree nearer the water. There he tweaked or pinched the
dog so as to make it yelp a little. Then we observed a crocodile's
head raised among some weeds far out in the tank. Not many
minutes afterwards the crocodile's head appeared out of the water
only a few feet away from the dog. Mr. Hayes at once shot it with
his rifle ; and when he recovered it found the shot marks of the
previous day in its head.

In this case it might almost be said with truth that the animal
had no brains, since the brain of an ordinary tank crocodile is only
about the size of a large walnut. When I split the skull of one,
the men who were with me could not find the brain cavity, and
thought it had no brains.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (SwjTmerton), p. 368, a
Tiget with a broken leg takes the place of the Lion, and a Jackal

THE LION AND THE JACKAL 363

brought an Ass to eat what he represented to be the superior grass
at the place. After the Tiger had killed it and eaten part of it, he
crawled to a spring for a drink, and in his absence the Jackal ate
the heart (which the Tiger wanted itself), and gave the same explana-
tion of its absence. The author added a note, " the heart among
the Punjabis being the seat of reason."

In the Panchatantra (Dubois), an Ass was brought to a sick Lion
King in order that he might eat the heart and ears, as a remedy for
his illness. When he was brought back the second time by a Jackal,
the Lion killed him and ate the heart and ears.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawhey), p. 85, there is a similar story,
except that after killing the Ass the Lion went to bathe, and the
Jackal then ate the heart and ears. He told the Lion that " the
creature never possessed ears or a heart, otherwise how could he
have returned when he had once escaped ? "

STORIES OF THE RODIYAS

No. 69

The Roll of Cotton

IN a certain country there is a city. In the city there
are two persons, an elder sister and a younger sister.
There are two female children of the two persons.

The 'younger sister took to spinning cotton. At that
time her daughter also came there. A roll of cotton was
driven away in the wind out of the daughter's hand. Then
her mother beat the daughter. " Wherever it should go
do thou bring back the roll of cotton," she said. This girl,
weeping and weeping, follows the roll of cotton.

She came to a betel plot which a lame man had made.
To this girl who was following the roll of cotton the lame
man says, " Ane ! Pour water on this betel plot and go,
please," he said. Afterwards, having poured it she went
on. " The betel has been plucked," she said.

As she was going [she came to a place where] a dog was
tied. " Ane ! Younger sister, tie me in the shade and go,
please," he said. " While you are going home to-morrow
there will be a haunch of a bull tied up [for you]," he said.
So having tied the dog in the shade she went on.

Then the roll of cotton having gone on, stopped in a
cane-brake. At that time a King came there. That girl
was tying hooked sticks in order to get the roll of cotton.
So the King said, " I will bring the roll of cotton. Go thou
to the royal palace and cook," he said.

The girl went and cooked. The King got the roll of
cotton. The King having gone, gave the roll of cotton to
the girl.

y THE ROLL OF COTTON 365

After he had given it, both of them ate the cooked rice.
After they had eaten it the King called the girl to the house.
Having called her, he said to the girl, " Please take from
these boxes any box thou wantest," he said.

Then the girl, having looked at them, took a small sandal-
wood box.

Afterwards the King said, " This will provide a livelihood
for the persons who are rearing thee, also," he said.

Taking the box, she came near the dog that was tied up.
There the dog had tied up the haunch of a bull. Having
taken the haunch of the bull from there, she came near the
lame man. Having got betel from there, she came near
her mother at the girl's house.

Having come there she opened that box. Having opened
it, after she looked [in it she found that] the box was full of
silver ^nd gold ; the box had been filled. Then that other
elder sister and the elder sister's daughter saw these articles
[and heard how the girl obtained them].

On the following day that mother and daughter took to
spinning cotton. Afterwards, from the mother's hand by
force a roll of cotton was carried away [by the wind] ;
having been carried away she beat the daughter, and told
her to bring the roll of cotton. So this daughter, weeping
and weeping, goes after the roll of cotton.

She goes near the lame man who is making the betel plot.
Then the lame man said, " Please pour water [on these
plants]." Having said, " I will not," she went by the place
where the dog was. The dog said, " Ane ! Elder sister,
tie me in the shade and go. As you go [home] I will place
a haunch of a bull for you," he said. Having said she would
not she went away.

The roll of cotton having gone into the very cane-brake,
that also stopped there. Then this girl was tying hooked
sticks in order to get the roll of cotton. Then the King
[came there, and] said, " I will bring the roll of cotton. Go
thou to the palace and cook," he said.

The girl having gone, without any deficiency cooked rice
and vegetables. The King having taken the roll of cotton
[there], both of them went to eat the rice. Having gone

366 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

and looked [at it in order] to eat it, they could not eat it ;
it had the taste of water.

Having called the girl he said, "From these please take
for thyself any box thou wantest," he said.

This one having searched and searched, took in her arms
a great chest. Afterwards the King said, " Go thou ;
please open the box at the place where thy mother and
father are," he said.

The girl, after it became night, having summoned every
one,^ opened the box. All [the things] in the box were
cobras and polangas. The cobras and polangas having
bitten the people of the village, destroyed them. They
made all the village desolate.

Rodiya. North-western Province.

In Wide-Awake Storie$ (Steel and Temple), p. 178 — Folk Tales
of the Punjab, p. 167 — there is an account of the good luck of a kind
girl and the bad luck of an unkind girl, but the incidents are unlike
those of the Sinhalese story.

' Seramantama.

No. 70

The Jackal and the Leopard

IN a certain country there is a Gamarala. There is a
goat-fold of the Gamarala's. At that goat-fold one by
one the goats are disappearing during the night. After-
wards the Gamarala having gone there [to watch for the
thief] went to sleep. In the hand of the Gamarala there
was a lump of salt chillies.

Afterwards the Leopard came at night. The Leopard
lifting each goat looks at it. Having looked, afterwards
having lifted up the Gamarala [and found he was the heav-
iest] he took him. Carrying him away he took him to his
rock cave. Then the Gamarala quickly [entered it, and]
shut the door. The Leopard then was trying to go into
the cave. Having heard the uproar the Jackal Pan4itaya
came. "What is this, Sapu-flowers' Minister, you are
doing ? " he asked.

" In other years I brought goats [and ate them without
trouble]. That one having entered the cave has shut the
door."

" You, Sir, having put your tail inside the cave be pleased
to wave it," he said ; the Jackal Panditaya said. " Do
not catch hold of the tail," he said [to the Gamarala].
" Otherwise, having put thy foot against the wall, and
having folded it two-fold or three-fold, hold it [fast]," he
said. " Do not jam a little of the golden salt chillies under
the tail of the Sapu-flowers' Minister," he said.

Then the Gamarala having seized the tail jammed in the
salt chillies. Afterwards the Sapu-flowers' Minister pulling
out his tail bounded away. Having bounded off and gone,
he sat down on a flat rock. Afterwards the Jackal Pandi-
taya asked, " What are you on that flat rock for ? "

3«7

368 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

" I am looking if this country is fruitful or unfruitful," ^
he said.

Again, the Gamarala, saving his life, went to the village.
The Jackal Pancjitaya went to the Gamarala. "What is
it, Gamarala ? Couldn't you kill him ? "

" While he was outside how could I, sitting in the cave,
kiU him ? "

" I will tell you a trick for that one," the Jackal Pandi-
taya said. Afterwards he said, " You must make a trap
for that one," he said.

" Where shall I make the trap ? " [the Gamarala] asked.

"At the fence of the goat-fold," he said.

Afterwards he made the trap. The Sapu-flowers' Minister
was noosed in the trap. On the following day the Gamarala
came to look. Having come before the Gamarala, also the
Jackal Panditaya came near the trap. " Gamarala, to-day
indeed he has been hanged," he said.

Etana metana to gasanne " Strike thou there and here a

Kambul baeta dipanne blow ;

Kanda sewanata aedapanne Knocks upon the cheeks bestow ;

Drag him to the hill's shadow,"

the Jackal Panditaya said. Then he said —

Hampotta}^ to ganne " 'Tis the skin will be for thee,

Malu tika mata denne. The little flesh thou'lt give ta

me."

Rodiyd. North-western Province.

Part of this story was given in The Orientalist, vol. iv,
p. 30. A Jackal that had followed a Leopard which was
trying to get at a man who had taken refuge in a corn store,
advised it to insert its tail through a gap in the doorway,
and wave it about. When it did so, the Jackal said in the
Peraelibasa,^ which the Leopard did not understand, Katu

1 That is, as we should say, " I have come here to enjoy a view
of the scenery ! "

* There appears to be some doubt regarding the spelling of this
compound word. I give it as I have heard it. Except in the last
letter I have followed that of the late Mr. W. Goonetilleke, the

THE JACKAL AND THE LEOPARD 369

anuwe potun detak, which when transposed becomes atu
kanuwe detun fotak, " Two or three twists round the pillar
of the corn store." The man acted as advised, and held
the tail fast. When some men came up they killed the
Leopard.

learned Editor of The Orientalist, who in vol. i, p. 8, of that journal
said of it : " Perelibase therefore means ' the language of transposi-
tion,' or ' the transposed language.' " In Clough's Dictionary the
second word is spelt basa. In Mr. A. M. Gunasekara's excellent
Sinhalese Grammar the spelling is peralibasa in the Index, and
perali base (or bhashawa) in the paragraph dealing with it. Pro-
iessor E. Miiller-Hess has drawn my attention to the form pereli
on one of the inscribed tablets at Mihintale.

B B

No. 71

, How the Boars killed the Rakshasa

THERE is a certain city. There is a very great jungle
belonging to the city. A wUd Sow stays in the
jungle. The Sow having come to a house on the high
ground, and pains having come to her, gave birth to a little
Boar. The men of the house having seen the little Boar,
catching it and amply giving it to eat, reared it.

[After he had grown up], one day that village Boar says,
" I cannot remain thus." Having thought, " I must go to
a great jungle," he went away.

After that, having gone to the jungle, while he was there
a Rakshasa , having come to that jungle was eating the
large Boars. Afterwards the vUlage Boar said [to the
others], " I will tell you a good trick," he said.

"What is it ? " the other large Boars in the jungle asked.

" Please dig two very large wells. At the bottom make
the two wells one," 1 he said. " The large village Boar will
be [on the ground] in the middle of the two wells," he said.
He told the other large Boars to be round the well.

The Rakshasa every day comes to a rock. The large
village Boar asks the other large Boars, "This Rakshasa
having come, what wUl you do as he comes ? "

The other Boars say, " This Rakshasa having come makes
grimaces at us."

" Then ye also make grimaces," he said.

" Again, he inflates his sides at us."

"Do ye also inflate your sides," he said.

" He makes a very great roar."

"Do ye also at that time roar all together," he said.

' That is, unite them by a tunnel.

370

HOW THE BOARS KILLED THE RAKSHASA 371

On the following day the Rakshasa having come, and
having looked in the direction of the Boars, made grimaces,
inflated his sides, and made a very great roar. [The Boars
did the same.]

Then the Rakshasa thought, " To-day these Boars will
eat me." Thinking this he went near the Lion.

Afterwards the Lion scolded him. " Ane ! You also
having gone, and having been unable [to do anything],
have you come back ? "

" What am I to do ? All that I do the Boars are doing."

Afterwards the Rakshasa again came to the place where
the Boars were. After that, the village great Boar says to
the other Boars, " To-day the Rakshasa is coming to eat
us indeed. What shall we do ?" he said to the great Boars.
"[This is what we wiU do.] The Rakshasa having come,
when he springs at the great Boars I will jump into the
well. Having jumped in, I will come to the ground by
the tunnel [and the other well]," he said. " Before I ascend
you eat the Rakshasa," he said.

In that way the Rakshasa came. Having come, as he
was springing [at the Boar] the Boar jumped into the well.
Then the Rakshasa having jumped [in after him] they bit
him and ate him up.

Afterwards the great village Boar asked the other Boars,
" Who else is there to eat your flesh ? "

Then, " Still there is a Lion King," they said. Saying,
" Ada ! Seeking him there, let us all go," they all went.

The Lion King as the Boars were coming climbed up a
tree. Then the Boars at once having broken the roots of
the tree, felled the tree to the ground. The Lion ran away.

Then the Boars, saying, " Seize him, seize him ! " having
gone chasing him, killed the Lion.

Rodiya. North-western Province.

This tale is given in the Jataka story No. 492 (vol. iv, p. 217).
A Boar reared by a carpenter joined the wild ones, and taught them
how to kill a Tiger that devoured them, by means of two pits. The
tunnel connecting them is omitted. The Boar did not jump into
the pit ; ' only the Tiger fell into one of the pits when he sprang at
the Boar. After kiUing the Tiger they proceeded to kill a sham

372 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

ascetic who was his abettor, in the same manner as in the Sinhalese
story.

Although the Rodiyas are not often present at the services at
the Buddhist temples, they go to them occasionally, not, however,
being permitted to enter the temple enclosure, but standing outside
it. There they can hear the reading of the sacred books (bofia),
and perhaps in this manner they have learnt the story of the Boars.
I have not met with it as a folk-tale elsewhere. The reference to the
tunnel connecting the two pits shows that it has independent features.
This tunnel alone explains the excavation of the two pits, one to
jump into and the other to escape by.

No. 72

The Grateful Jackal

IN a certain village there was a boy who looked after
cattle. One day, in the morning having taken the
cattle [to graze], as they were going to water, that boy,
when a python seizing a Jackal was going to eat it, went
and beat the python, saying, " Ane ! This python is going
to eat the Jackal, isn't it ? "

Then the python having let the Jackal go seized the boy.
So the boy cried out, " An^a ! Anda ! my father ! The
python has seized me ! " he cried.

Then the Jackal having come running, when he looked
[saw that] the python had caught the boy, and thinking
" Ada ! Because of me this one seized the boy," the Jackal
looking and looking backwards, ran off [to fetch assistance].
After he had looked [to see] if there was any one, there was
no one. The Jackal heard several people in the distance.
The Jackal went running there. When he was going near
the men, the men said, " A mad Jackal has come," they
said.

Then again the, Jackal came running to the place where
the python was. Again he came running to the place
where the men were. Having come [there], after the Jackal
looked [he saw that] the clothes of men who were bathing
were under a tree. The Jackal having gone to the place
where the clothes were, taking a waist cloth in his mouth
ran off. Having run off, and having put down the cloth at
the place where the python, holding the boy, was staying,
the Jackal ran into the jungle.

Then those men having seen that the Jackal which had

taken the cloth in its mouth was running away, saying,

373

374 VILLAGE FOLK-TALES OF CEYLON

" Ada ! The mad Jackal taking our cloth in its mouth is
running away," followed the Jackal. When they looked,
having seen that the python had seized the boy, they said,
" Ada ! The python has caught such and such a one's
boy and encircled him."

Then those men who were ploughing and ploughing
having all come running, and having beaten and thrown
down the python, saved the boy. OAfterwards] those men
asked at the hand of the boy, " What did the python seize
thee for ? "

Then the boy said, " As I was coming the python had
seized the Jackal, and I was sorry. At that time I tried to
save the Jackal, and that one having let the Jackal go,
seized me."

Rodiya. North-western Province.

STORIES OF THE KINNARAS

No. 73

Concerning a Monk and a Yaka

A MONK, tying a Yaka [by magical spells] gets work
from him. For seven years he got work. Then the
time having come for the Yaka to go, the Yaka every day
having gone near the monk says, " Monk, tell me a work
[to do]."

The monk said one day, " In Galgamuwa tank there wiU
be seven islands. Having gone there and planed them
down, come back." After that, the Yaka having gone
and planed the tank, and having very quickly come, said
at the hand of the monk, " Monk, tell me a work."

Then the monk said, " Having cut a well of seven fathoms,
and having cut a Damunu ^ tree, and removed the splinters,
and put it down to the bottom of a well, and tied a
creeper noose to the Damunu stick, you are to draw it up
[from inside the well] to the ground."

Afterwards the, Yaka having cut a well of seven fathoms,
and cut a Damunu tree, and removed the bark from it, and
tied a creeper noose to it, and put the Damunu stick to the
bottom of the well, the Yaka sitting on the ground holding
the creeper noose tried to draw it out. He could not draw
it. When he was drawing it, because there was sHme on
the Damunu stick he was unable to draw it out.

On account of the time during which the Yaka had been
delayed near the well, the monk being afraid of the Yaka,
the monk went backwards and backwards for three gawwas
(twelve miles). The Yaka having pushed against the monk for

1 Grewia HHotefolia (?).

375

376 VILLAGE FOLKTALES OF CEYLON

so much time, and having got a bill-hook also, on the road
he drove him (the monk) away. Having gone there [after-
wards] to kill the monk, he met with the monk. After that,
the Yaka threw the bill-hook, so that having cut the monk
with it he would die. After he had thrown it, the bill-hook
was behind,! and the monk was in front [of it]. On account
of that, the name [of the place] there became Kaettaepa-
huwa[a village twenty-one miles from Kurunaegala, on the
road to Anuradhapura].

Kinnard. North-western Province.

TMs story "is known throughout the district to the north of Ku-
runaegala. The explanation of the Damunu tree incident which
was given to me is that the monk, being unable to find enough work
for the Yaka, gave him this task as one that would provide occupa-
tion for him for a long time. When the bark is freshly removed,
the Damunu sticks are extremely slippery. The creeper was tied
at one end in a ring which was passed over the smooth stem of the
tree. When the Yaka endeavoured to raise the tree by pulliag at
the creeper, the ring slipped up the stem instead of raising the
tree.

Elsewhere in the same district I heard of another man,
a villager, who had mastered a Yaksani (female Yaka), and
who made her perform work for him. In appearance she
was an ordinary female, and the man's wife was unaware of
her true character, as he had not informed her of it, being,
afraid of alarming her. The man kept the Yaksani under
control by means of a magic iron nail, which he had driven
in the crown of her head. One day during his absence she
went to her mistress, and told her that a thorn had run
into her head while she was carrying firewood on it, and
that she was unable to draw it out. The woman extracted
the nail for her, and the Yaksani, being then free, killed
the family, and escaped.

In Folh-Lore of Southern India (Natela Sastri), p. 272 — Tales of
the Sun, p. 285 — there is a story of a landowner who learnt an in-
cantation by means of which he summoned a Brahma-Rakshasa,
who became his servant, at the same time informing him that if he
failed to provide work the Rakshasa would kill him. Everything

' Kaeita pahuwuna.

CONCERNING A MONK AND A YAKA 377

he could think of was done in an incredibly short time — tank re-
paired and deepened, lands all cultivated — and there being nothing
more to be done the wife gave the demon a hair of her head to
straighten. He failed to do it, but remembering that goldsmiths
heated wires when about to straighten them, he placed the hair on
a fire, which burnt it up. He was afraid to face his mistress after
it, so he ran away.

Regarding the thorn in the demon's head, see No. 20.

No. 74

The Three Suitors

IN a certain country dwelt a man and a woman, it is
said. These two had a son and a daughter.

When a man came one day and asked for the daughter
[in marriage] at the hand of the father, the father said,
" It is good. Come on Wednesday." The man having
said " Ha," went away.

Afterwards another man came and asked for the girl at
the hand of the mother. The mother said, " It is good.
Come on Wednesday." The man having said " Ha,"
went away.

After that, yet a man came and asked for her at the hand
of the girl's younger brother. The younger brother said,
" It is good. Come on Wednesday." The man having
said " Ha," went away.

Well then, the company of three persons having come on
Wednesday and eaten rice and betel, caused the girl to
come out [of the house], inviting her to go. Then the three
persons endeavoured to call her to go in three [different]
directions. Because the girl was unable to settle the dispute
she ate a kind of poison, and lying down died there and
then. Afterwards they buried her.

After that, the man who came first went to a sooth-
sayer. The man who came next watched alone at the
place where they buried her. The man who came last
having said, " It doesn't matter to me," went to his village.

The man who went to ask for sooth having inquired
about it, came to the place where they buried the girl.
Having come and made incantations in the manner pre-
scribed by the sooth-sayer, he made her arise, and got her

87S

THE THREE SUITORS 379

[back to life]. After she had recovered she went to the
village. The man also went there.

Now then, after the three men had come together there,
the man who brought her back to life asked, " To whom
do you belong ? "

The girl said, " The man who watched alone at the grave
is my mother. The man who went to inquire of the sooth-
sayer is my father. The man who went to his village is
my man."

Having said this, the girl went with the man to his village.

Kinnan. North-western Province.

This is a story of Vikrama and the Vampire, one of the puzzling
questions set to the King being a decision as to whom the girl be-
longed.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swsninerton), p. 237, the girl
threw herself down from the house-top. One of the suitors sprang
on the funeral pile, and was burnt with her. The second watched
over the grave. The third became a Fakir, and learnt how to re-
vive the dead. He revived both the girl and the burnt suitor. The
merchant whose opinion was required decided that the two who were
burnt together were brother and sister, the Fakir who gave them
renewed life was their father, and the man who merely sat by the
grave must become her husband.

In the Jataka story No. 150 (vol. i, p. 321), there is an account of
a person who had learnt the spell for reviving the dead. In this
case it was a tiger, who killed him.

In Tota Kahanl (Small), p. 139, out of three suitors for the hand
of a girl who was carried off by a fairy, one learnt the manner of her
disappearance and the place where she was, the second made a
magical fl3dng wooden horse, on which the third rode to rescue her,
killed the fairy, and brought her back. The Parrot's decision was
that the last one bad the best right to her, as he had risked his life
for her.

No. 75
The Crocodile and the Jackal

IN a river in a certain country a Crocodile stayed, it is
said. While it was living there, the Crocodile having
become friendly with a Crab, the Crocodile said to the Crab,
" Friend, you call the Jackal to drink water, so that I may
seize and eat the Jackal after he has come." The Crab
said " Ha."

On the bank of that river there were Muruta ^ trees, and
there were flowers on those Muruta trees. The Crocodile
said to the Crab, " I will lie down on the high ground. You
bring flowers that have fallen below those Muruta trees
and cover me." Having said [this], the Crocodile lay down
on the high ground near the water, and the Crab having
brought the Muruta flowers covered the Crocodile.

Having covered him, the Crab, calling the Jackal, came
to drink water. The Crocodile stayed as though dead.
Then the Jackal having come near the Crocodile said, " In
our country, indeed, dead Crocodiles wag their tails. This
Crocodile, why doesn't he wag his tail ? Maybe he isn't
dead."

Th'cn that Crocodile which remained as though dead,
wagged his tail. After that, the Jackal, without stopping
even to drink water, bounded off, and went away.

Afterwards the Crocodile said to the Crab, " Friend, to-
morrow I will stop at the bottom of the water. You come
there with the Jackal. Then I will seize and eat him."

The Crab having said " Ha," on the following day came
with the Jackal to the place where the Crocodile was. Then
the Crocodile seized the Jackal by the foot [as he was going
to drink water]. The Jackal said —

' Lagerstroemia flos-reginae.

380

THE CROCODILE AND THE JACKAL 381

Kimbulundae raewatundae " Are the Crocodiles cheated quite,

Ketala ale dae gandae ? Thus the Ketala yam to bite ? "

Then the Crocodile let go. After that, on that day also
without drinking water he bounded off, and went away.
From that day, the Jackals having become angry with
the Crabs, and having seized and bitten the Crabs in the
rice fields, place the Crabs' claws on the earthen ridges in
the fields.

Kinnara. North-western Province.

In The Onentalist, vol. ii, p. 46, there is a story of a Jackal and
a Crocodile, in the latter part of which the first incident is given, the
tree being a Veralu (Elaeocarpus serratus). The Crab is not intro-
duced into it.

In the Jataka story No. 57 (vol. i, p. 142) a Crocodile endeavoured
to entrap a Monkey by lying still on the top of a rock. The Monkey,
suspecting some trick, frorp the unusual height of the rock, addressed
the rock and inquired why it did not reply as usual. The Crocodile
then spoke.

In Indian Folk Tales (Gordon), p. 63, the God Mahadeo (Siva)
took the place of the Crocodile, in order to be revenged on the Jackal
for cheating him in the matter of the dead elephant (see No. 39,
note) ; and the two incidents of the shamming death and seizure
of the root are related.

In Old Deccan Days (Frere) p. 310, a Jackal escaped from an Alli-
gator [Crocodile] in the same manner.

INDEX

Abbot of Canterbury and K. John,

I5S
Actions, six, against one man, 171
Adikaramas beheaded, 151
Aet-kanda Leniya or Lihiniya =

Rukh or Garuda^ 291, 296 ;

assists Prince, 293, 299 ; carries

off elephant, 293 ; Sumerian idea,

300 ; youth goes for its milk, 296.
See Rukh

Aewariyakka MulakkS, story of,

320, 321
Adoption of child by birds, 121,

124, 125, 127, 128
Alvarez, Father Francis, exorcised

locusts, 43
Amu, a small grain, 72
Amuna, measure of 57 bushels, 55,

295
Anga, a Gangetic kingdom, 39, 40
Animals bought by Prince, 278,

301 ; ofEer to marry women,
113; protect youth, 299; re-
ceive information from gods, 19 ;
with trees and road condemn
man, 340, 341 ; warnings by : —
Aet-kanda Leni, 297 ; bear, 298 ;
cat, 123, 124, 126 ; crocodile,
299; crows, 125, 300; Demon
Hound, 298; dog, 15, 123, 124,
126 ; fish, 86 ; jackal, 300 ;
leopard, 356 ; lizard, 14 ; parrot,
97, 122, 124, 126 ; peacock, 300 ;
storks, 121, 127 ; woodpecker, 19

Appa, light rice cake, 78
Appearances not to be trusted, 232
Arabian Nights, 33
Araksha, protective written spells

and diagrams, 15, 147
Ashes offered for sale, 106
Ass-driver miscounts asses, 259
Asuras, superior to Gods, 47, 50
Atasil, eight precepts of Buddha,

kept by lay devotees (Upasakas),

354
AyiyS, elder brother, honorific
suffix or address, 21, 68, 69, 80,
83, 85, 221, 222, 235

Bali, or Vah, K., his five sons, 40

Bali Tiyanna, priest for planetary
services, 18

Banga, or Vanga, a Gangetic king-
dom, 40-42

Barbet, its call, 3

Barter, 21 ; bull for bill-book, 337 ;
cart and bulls for horse, 306 ;
dog for waterpot, 306 ; fish for
hoe, 306 ; goat for dog, 306 ;
goods, 21, 305, 306 ; hoe for ox,
306 ; horse for goat, 306 ; leaf
for fish, 306 ; ox for two cakes,
306 ; waterpot for shave, 306 ;
wife for bull, 337

Bathing in boiling water, 60 ; in
warm water, 83, 87, 98, 281

Bear and youth, 298 ; kills man,
299, 321

Beating converts old women into
girls, 109-111

Bed of glass, 61

Bell rung to call absent King, 133

3ell worship, 352

Berawa caste, tom-tom beaters
and weavers, 28, 249, 252 ff.

Betel, leaves presented to sooth-
sayer, 180, 182 ; vine, 364 ;
protected by bullock's skull, 11

Bharnnda bird = Rukh, 300

Bhuta, frightened by man, 149 ;
thought his reflection a real
figure, 149

Bihangama = Rukh, 300 ; dung a
remedy for blindness and poison,
300

384

INDEX

Bird and eggs, 201, 204 ; and grains

of com, Z04, 205
Bird-lime, 179
Birds adopt child : — Crows, 125 ;

eagles, 128 ; storks, 121, 124, 127
Birds bring presents for girl, 121,

124, 125, 127
Birth signal : — Chain, iron or silver,

shaken, 131
Black storks, 7 ; adopt child, 121 ;

carry turtle, 234, 239
Blindness caused by father, 1 30 ;

by King, 187, 276, 277 ; by

magic, 272 ; by sight of Prince,

173 ; by Yaka, 146 ; cured by

burning flowers on eyes, 173, 177 ;

by rubbing fruit on them, 90 ;

by ointment or medicine, 275-

277 ; by spell, 131
Blue clothes of Princesses, 271
Blue lotus in river, 117-119; in

sea, 298
Boar and jackal, 359 ; jumps into

fire, 290 ; killed by lion, 360
Boars kill and eai: Rakshasa, 371 ;

kill lion, 371 ; kill tiger, 371
Bola, 69, 73, JT, etc. ; bolan, it,

122, 223 ; bolawu, 224
Borrowing clothes by litigant, 322,

327. 331

Boy and leopard, 357 ; bums
house, 108 ; floating in river,
108 ; steals fruit, 109. See
Youth

Brahma^a carried jackal, 347, 348 ;
created first from ea;rth, 48 ; his
investments, 306 ; made first
woman, 49 ; mark of, 97 ; rides
on Rukh, 251, 300

Brer Rabbit and Brer Tarrypin, 244

Bridegroom and parents fetch bride,
58

Bridge, 138

Broom, a demon scarer, 50

Brothers, seven marry seven sis-
ters, 100

Buddhas, becoming a thousand,
232, 241

Buddhist creed, 14 ; precepts [siV),

349, 354
Bufialo, bathing, 7 ; price of, 181,
304 ; dead, revived, 102

Bullock's skull protective, 1 1
BuUs offer to marry women, 113
Bull, stone, controlled by nail in

head, 168
Bum-bum the tom-tom beater, 351
Burning of house, 106, 108
Buttresses on trees, 5

Cakes, of snakes' eggs turn Queen
into cobra, 132 ; pounded in
mortar, 72, 78 ; Gamarala's, 219
Calf borne by bull, 233
Call to temple service, 14
Camels' flesh as food, 176
Campa, capital of Anga state, 40
Carving figure by Princess, 98
Castes in folk-tales, 27-30
Cat assists gambler, 175, 177 ;

pious, 345-354
Cattle-fold, 12, 102, 191, 192
Celestial bodies near house tops, 50
Centre of country, or earth, 150,

153. 154

Chain shaken as birth signal, 131

Character of kings, 36

Charcoal, magical, creates fire, 68,
70 ; white mark by, 292

Charms against dreams, 15 ;
against snake poison, 2;

Chena, 2; cultivation, 3, 17, 19;
watch hut, 2, 169, 170, 172 ; path
blocked by demon, 16

Chetti caste, 30

Child, abandoned, 120, 124-126,
173, 191 ; eaten, 187, 271-273 ; in
exchange for mango, 302 ; name
given by strangers, 303 ; sold,
36, 94 ; own, unrecognised, 254

Cleverest animals, hare and turtle,

35

Club to turn old women into girls,
I09-III

Cobra assumes human form, 132 ;
climbs tree to kill young eagles
or Rukhs, 292, 300 ; cured by
Princess, 64 ; fangs removed,
24 ; gives treasure, 64 ; guarding
pool requires human offering,
58 ; imprisons Prince, 59 ; killed,
133, 158, 267, 292, 300; king.
269 ; pretended captures, 25 ;

INDEX

385

swallows horses, 269 ; tame, 23,
24

Cobra Stone,, brilliance, 266, 269 ;
fatal light of, 266 ; grants all
desires,, 269 ; light intercepted
by cow-dung, 267 ; or horse-
dungj 269

Cock, jewelled golden, 67-70 ; sil-
ver, 264, 268

Coins : — Kahawa^ia, 33 ; kahawatia
(golden ?), 348; masurama, 33, 62,
189, 191-193, 228-230, 278-280,
294-296, 3:3, 315 ; panam, gold,
259 ; pence, 262, 263, 304 ;
rupee, 304, 313 ; salliya, 85, 87,
139 ; tuttuwa, 73, 74, 304, 306 ;
waragan, 182

Consent of parents or guardians
necessary before marriage, 63,
102, 127

Cookery, by Princess or Queen, 33,
98, 161, 270, 271, 279, 291 ; cakes,
73, 74, loi, 220; camels' flesh,
176; pumpkin milk-rice, 211 ;
rice, 85, 86, 129, 309

Cormorant and crab, 346

Com store, 10, 55, 78, 109, no, 368

Corpse set up and killed, 103

Counting incident : — Ass driver,
ten asses, 259 ; Chinese guard,
six things, 259 ; Guru Paramarta,
five disciples, 259 ; Kadambawa
men, twelve, 258 ; pigs, twelve,
259 ; weavers, seven, 259

Courtesan assisted by cat, 175 ; has
gambling house, 174; imprisons
losers, 174, 175 ; marries Prince,

175

Cow-dung, 10 ; winnowing basket
stops light of cobra stone, 267

Cowry brings guilty snake, 91

Cow, magic, of jogi, 276 ; Sinhalese,
one cubit long, 276

Creation legend, 47 ; Brahmana
created first, 48 ; obstruction by
Danavas, 49; Vishnu Purana
on, 49 ; woman made by Brah-
mana, 49

Crfib and crane, 345 ; and cor-
morant, 346 ; and heron, 342 ;
and pelican, 345 ; and pond
heron, 342-345

Crane and crab, 34; ; makara, 34^

Creed, Buddhist, 14

Crickets assist Prince, 300, 301

Crocodile, 5 ; and jackal, 380, 38 1 ;
and man, 339, 341 ; and monkey,
381 ; cheated by jackal, 218, 240 ;
of sea, 298, 299 ; its milk, 298 ;
shams death, 380 ; wags its tail,
380 ; warns youth, 299 ; wed-
ding of, 216 ; wounded, returns
next day, 362

Crops in chena, 3

Crown, 152 ; golden, 144

Crow, pious, 354 ; warns girl, 300

Crying tom-tom beaters and
weavers, 260, 261

Cultivation, chena, 17 ; rice, 17

Custom on arrival of strangers, 139

Danavas obstruct creation, 49

Darter (Plotus), 6

Days, unlucky, 18

Dead cow revived by wand, 102

Deaf persons, two, 136 ; three, 135

four, 134-135
Death ia thumb, 157
Death, pajmient for causing, 103
Deities, Indian, rarely mentioned,

37

Deity, gives information to animals,
19 ; to man in dream, 58 ; goads
possessed person, 289 ; guardian,
173. 175. 222, 223 ; inside ele-
phant, 249, 250, 251 ; outwitted,
Senasura, 55 ; §iva, 56, 251, 381

Demon and pandit, 215 ; blocked
path, 16, 146 ; confined in bottle,
33 ; cry of, 13 ; Hound, 297 ;
assists youth, 298, 299 ; warns
youth, 298 ; scarers : — ^Broom, 50;
invectives, 172 ; gun-shot, 146 ;
spells and diagrams, 146, 147.
171. See Yaka

Demons inhabit north, 13

Deer and girl, 284 ; mouse, 4, 35,
213, 256, 340.

Departure, manner of, 15

Deposition of King, 152, 153

Depth of sea, 1 54

Destruction of world, 49

Devas, 150

CC

386

INDEX

DSvatSwa, godling, dwelt in tree,
158 ; ieeds on smoke of lamp,
158; guards treasure, 249

Devil and husbandman, their divi-
sion of crops, 324

Difficulty of killing hero, 193, 299

Diribari-I/akSl, keeps gambling-
house, 174 ; imprisons and en-
slaves losers, 174, 17s ; marries
Prince, 175

Dog, demon, 297 ; party-coloured,
306

Dohta karanawa, to give poisonous
bite, 157

Dola pideni, small square frames
made of plantain stems, on which
offerings to demons are placed,
147

Dream causes abandonment of
journey, 16, 260 ; charms against,
15 ; interpretation of, 16, 260,
264, 268, 269 ; truth of, 141 ;
warning in, 58

Dress of villagers, 8, 103

Ducks, pair of, beheaded to revive
Princess, 269

Durayas, porter caste, 29, 348 ;
stories of, 114, 317

Eagle, white-tailed, 6 ; girl carried
off and reared by, 128 ; lion-
headed, of Lagash, 300
Eating, mode of, 12, 281, 309
Edanda, foot-bridge of tree trunk,

104', 305
Effect of Yaka's attack on man, 146
Egret, S, 6, 342
Elephant, 3 ; assists Prince, 295 ;

kills jackal, 316; selects King,

65, 81, 90-92, 99
Elopement, 41, 63, 99, 127
Emal bisawa, 125
Escape while arrows are fetched,

96, 99 ; while carried on bed, 357,

358
Evils, all due to evil spirits, 16
Evil eye, bullock's skull against,

II ; effect of, 15
Evil mouth, 15

Exorcism of flies, 18 ; locusts, 43
Eyes plucked out, 130, 272, 276,

277 ; replaced, 131, 275

Fakir changes letter, 276, sy7
Fan shaken to call Prince, 133
Fanner's wife and tiger, 215
Fate, 19, 314
Father's name remembered on

performing difficult feat, 140
Feather dress, removable, 310, 311
Female quail and its egg, 201
Fever, treatment for, 338
Field, rice, 6
Figure carved, 98 ; made of rice

flour, 303
Figurine, injury through, 167, 168
Finger-nail, food carried under, 53,

loi ; poisonous, 125, 126, 128
Fire-flies fried, 294 ; assist Prince,

296
Fire kills Rakshasa, 70, 71, 290
First cooking, 22 ; fire, 22 ; fruits,

20, 309 ; hair-cutting, 72-74 ;

milk taken, 304
Fish, sun-dried, speaks, 86 ; saves

Prince, 87
Five hundred carts, 192 ; cattle,

igi ; masuran, 313, 315
Flies, exorcism of, 18
Flight through air, 59, 60, 64,

66
Flower, floating, comes into hand,

118, 119 ; silver, 264, 268
Flying horse, 66, 277, 379
Fly killed on head, 259, 319, 321
Folk-tales contain picture of ancient

village life, 35
Food, Indian, 176; and clothes

obtained at road-side shops, 21 ;

carried under finger-nail, 52, loi ;

given to man by Yaka, 148, 149 ;

King's, prepared by royal family,

33, 270 ; magic, fills pot, 53, loi ;

primitive, 51
Fool in well, 317, 318
Foolish Brahma^ia, 263, 347 ; Ga-

marala, 322, 325 ; Gamar^la's

son, 336 ; judge, 230 ; King,

199, 334 ; leopard, 35, 213 ; man,

228, 262, 317, 318 ; tiger, 35,

215 ; tom-tom beaters or wea-
vers, 249,250, 252, 262
Forest, animals in, 3, 4, 173, 175 ;

resembles ocean, i
Fortune from mouse, 197 ; from

INDEX

387

carrying butter, 197, 198, 306;

from glass-ware, 198
Fortune-telling, 23, loi, 173, 289
Four tasks of Prince, 295-298, 301 ;

four tom-tom beaters, 262
Frame for cooking pots, 10, 338 ;

for demon offerings, 147
Frere, Sir Bartle, on cookery by

King's family, 33 ; on poisonous

snake's biting boy, 24
Frog Prince, 67

Gala, a fold for cattle or goats, 2,

102, 230, 367, 368
Galgamuwa tank, in N.-W. Prov.,

375

Gama-gaeni, wife of Gamarala, 319,
336 ; treated for fever, 338

Gama-mahage, wife of Gamarala,
124, 219, 328, 329, 284 ; aban-
dons child, 124, 125

Gama-mahayiya, wife of Gamarala,
125

Gama-puta, son of Ganiarala, 319,
336-338 ; exchanged bull for
bill-hook, 337 ; wife for bull,
337 ; his wife's illness, 336 ;
treats bill-hook for fever, 338 ;
treats mother for fever, 338

Gama-rahami = Gamarala, 326,

327

Gamarala, 78, 126, 129, 284 ; aban-
dons child, 124, 125 ; duties, 27 ;
keeps many horses, 228

Gamarala and foolish son, 319,
320 ; and leopard, 367, 368 ;
and washerman, 322, 325 ; their
cattle-grazing, 325, 326; their
exchange of timber, 324, 329 ;
lawsuits, 322, 327 ; quarrels,
326 ; sharing cattle, 323, 326 ;
chena, 322 ; onion garden, 323 ;
rice field, 323

Gamarala's cakes, 219-223 ; cat,
350 ; search for stars, 284 ; vil-
lage sold, 284

Gamaya, village headman, 201-2014,
208

Gambling, 22, 30, 174, 177, 178

Gambler assisted by cat, 175, 177

Gara Yaka, 318

Garuda in Ceylon, 251, 300 ; man

rides on, 25 1 ; nature of, 300 ;
races turtle, 244. See Aet-kanda
Leniya and Rukh.

Gem, contained sand, 140 ; cut
with sword, 140 ; drops from
mouth on laughing, 90 ; stones
given to Princes, 80, 82, 83, 89

Gifts, magic, 68, 71 ; King's, 99,
133. 36S. 366

Giants accompany Prince, 161 ;
imprisoned by Rakshasi, 162 ;
restore Prince's life, 165 ; fight
of. 313-315

Gilding woman's body, 290

Girl, at Rakshasa's house, 121, 124,
125, 163-165 ; eyes plucked
out and restored, 130, 131 ;
figure made of flour, 303 ; her
thief -lovers, 330 fi. ; imprisoned
in tree, 269 ; in golden swing,
129 ; storks', 120 fi. ; wants
Nikini, 284 fi.

Glass bed, 6i,-62

Glass Princess, 57-65 ; becomes
mare, 64 ; magical gifts, 63 ;
power of flight, 59, 60, 64

Goat and jackal, 361, 362 ; and
lion, 215 ; and tiger, 215 ;
foreign, 306 ; price, 304

Gods give son, 336 ; inform ani-
mals of coming events, 19 ; make
man, 48 ; unable to create earth,
47 ; visit men in men's disguise,
51. 55. 157. 223

Golden branches, 269 ; cock,
jewelled, 67-70 ; kaekiri, 129,
131,132; leaves, 269 ; peacock,
70, 71 ; salt chillies, 367 ; shoot,
273 ; swing, 129 ; tree, 264, 268

Goods given away, 306

Goonetilleke, W., on folk-tales, 31

Goonewardene, E. G., folk-tales

by, 197. 199

Grain measures, 133, 208

Grateful animals, 295, 296 ; Aet-
kanda Leni, 293 ; cobra, 64 ;
dog, 365 ; jackal, 373 ; monkey,
279-282 ; Rakshasi, 163 ; Yakai
142, 144

Ground Cuckoo, 13, 349, 351

Guard, Chinese, counted articlesf
259

388

INDEX

Guardian deity, 222, 223 ; pro-
tects Prince, 173, 175

Guru Paramarta] and disciples
count themselves, 259

Gypsies, 22-24 ; their cobras, 23-25

Hair, cuts iron tree, 64 ; first cut-
ting, 72, 73 ; knot's absence a
mark of slavery (?), 84 ; Rak-
shasi's causes fire, 71

Hare and jackal, 209 G. ; and tom-
tom beaters, 255 ; devil-dancer,
349-352 ; feigns death, 209, 210

Hay, Drummond, on poisonous
snakes' biting charmers, 24

Headmen, Kandian, grades and
duties, 27

Heaven, visit to, 76, 106, 301

Heron and crab, 342 ; pond, 7, 342-

345
Hettiya or Settiya, man of Chetti

caste, 30, 82-89, 139-145. 287-

288
Hidden Prince, 69 ; treasure, 64
Hides, cattle, not bought, 104
Hokkiye, cry of jackal, 316
Hopscotch, 193, 194
Horoscope, 10 1, 173
Horse, borne by oil-mill, 229, 233 ;

eaten by tree, 233 ; flying, 64,

66, 277, 379 ; many kept by

Gamarala, 228 ; price, 50 ma-

suran, 229 ; speaking, 199 ; two

out of pumpkin, 233 ; white,

of King, 144, 199
House burnt, 106, 108 ; deity, 222 ;

Kandian, 10 ; surrounded by

seven, 83
Hunchback and robin, 207
Husbandman and devil, division of

crops, 324
Huts, of gypsies, 22 ; watch, 2, 169,

170, 172
Hyaena and hare, 233

Idiots, twenty-five, 318

Imgig, lion-headed eagle, emblem

, of Lagash, 300

Immortality through eating golden

peacock, 71
Improvisation of stanzas, 28
Incense box, 308

Indra, 223 ; creates Brahmana
from earth, 48 ; creates Princess,
157; teaches use of jak fruit,
51 ; work of, 150-152

Infanticide, 36, 101, 120, 124-126,

173
Iron house against Yaka, 137, 145
Iron tree cut by hair, 60, 64, 66

Jacana, 7

Jackal, 204 ; advises man, 367 ;
against leopard, 368 ; and boar,
359 ; and Brahmana, 347, 348 ;
and crocodile, 216-218, 380, 381 ;
and goat, 361 ; and hare, 209 ;
and leopard, 367 ; and lion, 316,
359; and Mahadeo, 381; and
turtle, 234 ; assists man, 340,
341, 367, 373 ; as witness, 231-
233 ; cheated by lizard, 240 ;
cheated by turtles, 235 ff. ;
cheats crocodile, 240 ; cheats
hare, 211 ; cheats scavengers^
251 ; cheats &va, 251 ; cheats
tom-tom beaters, 249, 250 ; De-
vatawa inside bullock, 251 ;
inside elephant, 249-251 ; eats
dainties of lion or tiger, 360, 362,
363 ; enmity against crabs, 381 ;
hares, 212 ; gets washed, 212 ;
grateful, 373 ; induces King to
marry daughter to weaver, 283 ;
judgment, 339-341 ; leopard's
preceptor, 213; offers to marry
women, 113 ; pious, 354 ; proud,
316 ; settles lawsuit, 228-233 ;
skin dress, 310; titles, 213, 230,
316, 367 ; warns girl, 300 ;
wounded by knife in fruits, 358

Jacket made by Princess, 94

Jak fruit, eating taught by Indra,

■ 51

Janel SinnS, Mr., 278 ; his cities,

282
Jayawardana, D. A.^ legends of

primitive times, 50
Jewelled ring, 143-145, 295
Jogi, white cow of, 276 ; three

became copper pots when killed,

269
Journey abandoned through dream,

16, 260

INDEX

389

Jungle and forest, appearance of,

1-4
Jungle-fowl, 4, 204, 322, 349, 353

Kaccale = Ground Cuckoo, 349

Kadambawa men and bush, 257 ;
and hares, 255 ; and mouse-deer,
256 ; count themselves, 258 ;
interpret dream, 260 ; journey
to Puttalam, 253

Kaekiri, a small cucumber, 3, 117,
120, 125, 126, 140, 365 ; golden,
129-132

Kattaepahuwa, story of origin of
name, 376

Kahawa^ia, 33 ; golden (?), 348

Kalinga, Indian kingdom, 37, 40-
43 ; Kings and Queens came
from, 37, 38

Kandian castes in folk-tales, 27 fi. ;
headmen, 27 ; houses, 10 ; vil-
lage, 6, 8, 26

Kayiya, a party of labourers
assisting a person without pay,
52

Ketala, aquatic plant, 235, 381

Kettledrum, double, used at tem-
ples, 14, 238

Kettle with twelve spouts, 87

Kindness rewarded, 36, 365

King carries off Princess, 94 ;
cheated, 334 ; chops firewood,
265 ; death sentence on Prince,
36, 66, 80, 91, 137, 160, 173, 278,
279, 291 ; on Princesses, 270 ;
dreams of gold or silver tree, 264,
269 ; gifts to girls, 365, 366 ;
loses sight or dies on seeing son,
173. 177 ; marries Rakshasi or
ogress, 186, 190, 272, 276, 277 ;
rescues girl from Rakshasa, 303 ;
sells firewood, 65, 66 ; seized
by Yaka or ogre, 141, 145 ;
wicked, 191

Kings in folk-tales are Parumakas,
34 ; unfavourably depicted, 36

Kinnara, 30, 95, 98 ; and parrots,
224-226 ; curly hair, 30 ; stories
by. 375 ; villages, 30

Kitten assists Prince, 301

Kitul seeds. Story of, 197

Knife run through fruits, 355, 358

Kohomba deity, 317

Kokka, large wading bird, 234

Kulebaka flowers cure blindness,

173- '^77 ; in forest of Gods, 173 ;

guarded by Yakas; 175, 176
Kuppayama, Rodiya hamlet, 30
Kiirmarsha, 243
Kuweni and Wijaya, 167

Lagash, lion-headed eagle the em-
blem of, 300

Lala, a district of Vanga, 41

La^ika, or Lakdiva, name of Cey-
lon, 38

Latti's man, 76, 77, 78

Lawsuits, 21 ; Gamarala v. washer-
man, 322, 327 ; servant v. oil-
mill owner, 229 ff. ; thief v. mer-
chant, 331, 332; weaver-bird v.
monkey, 247

Leniya or Lihiniya, Aet-kanda =
Rukh, 291-293, 296, 297, 299 ;
assists Prince, 293, 299 ; carries
off elephant, 293 ; nest in tree,
292, 296

Leopard, 3 ; and jackal, 367 ; and
mouse-deer, 213; and lizard,
355-358 ; carries off boy, 357 ;
fear of lizard, 357, 358 ; noosed,
368 ; stupidest animal, 35 ;
warns man, 356

Letter changed by Fakir, 276, 277 ;
by Princess, 195, 275, 276 ; by
Sannyasi, 276 ; by Yogi, 277 ;
in orange, 95 ; sent, 144, 188,

193-195. 274-277

Life index : — Barley plant, 165 ;
blue-lotus flower, -162, 164; lime
trees, 162, 164 ; nosegay, 165 ;
plant, 165 ; tree, 165

Life concealed in bees, 166, 167 ;
birds, 166, 167 ; box, 167 ;
brightness of sword, 167 ; cocks,
166; golden parrot, 190 ; lemon,
167 ; mountain, 167 ; necklace,

166 ; parrot, 167 ; pigeon, 166 ;
snow, 166 ; spinning-whfeel, 166 ;
starling, 166 ; sword, 164, 166,-

167 ; tree, 167 ; veranda pillarj
166

Lightning unlucky, 174, 227, 3131
359. 360

390

INDEX

Lion, 35 ; and goat, 215 ; and

jackal, 316, 359 ; and turtle,

241 ; cheated by turtle, 342 fE.,

244
Lion-throne, 152
Lizard, 3, 19; and leopard, 355-

358 ; cheats jackal, 240 ; chirp,

an omen, 14
Locusts, exorcised, 43, 44
Loku-amma, step-mother, 116-118,

130-133; mother's elder sister.

Hi
Loku-mama, eldest uncle, 102
Longing of pregnancy, 116-118,

130, 284, 285
Lotus, blue, 117-119, 298; in

Creation legend, 47, 48 ; -pink,

119
Lucky hour for beginning works, 18
Lynx and tiger, 215

Maccocalingae and Modogalingae,

Gangetic tribes, of Pliny, 40
Madahapola, P. B., folk-tale by, 350
Maduwa, an open shed, 8
Magadha, 39
Magic, cow, 276 ; figurine, 167,168 ;

fruit, mango, 90, 116; kaekiri,

117 ; gifts, three, 68 ; four, 71 ;

horse, 277, 379 ; rice, 276, 277 ;

seat, 99 ; singing water, 276 ;

turtle dove, 80 ; wand, 102, 109,

III
Mahadeo and jackal, 56, 251, 381
Mahage, well-to-do village woman,

129

Maha-Muda, Yaksani, marries
Prince, 176

Maharajani, form of addressing
king, 199, 200

Man and crocodile, 339-341 ; and
snake, 341 ; assisted by japkal,
340. 341. 367-369. 373 ; con-
demned by animals, trees and
road, 340, 341 ; made from earth,
48

Mango in exchange for child, 302 ;

• tree, a dead woman, 116, 117

■Mara, Death, imprisoned in bottle,

33
-MargSsa tree planted for king, 334
Mariyada Raman, stories of, 37

Marriage customs, 238, ,240, 308 ;

to bridegroom's sword, 58, 65

Masurama {(coin), 33, 62, 189,

191-193, 228-230, 278, 279, 294-

296, 313, 315 ; measure for, 280

Matalange Loku-appu, 108

Midula, open ground in front of

house, 10, 73, 74, 130, 163, 209
Milk-rice, 13, 211
Millet Trader, 72 fi.

Mini-gedi, hawk's-bell, 352

Mini Ran Kukula, jewelled golden
cock, 67

Minister, Chief, 1 54 ; giant ap-
pointed, 315 ; pay of , 189

Mi-paetikki, young mouse or rat,
308

Money, 33 ; kahawa^ia (golden ?),
348 ; masurama, 62, 189, 191-
193, ' 228-230, 278, 279, 294-
296, 313, 315 ; panam, gold, 259 ;
pence, 262, 263, 304 ; rupee, 181,
304, 313; salliya. 85, 87, 139;
tuttuwa, 73, 74, 304, 306;
waragan, 182

Monk and Yaka, 375 ; and boy, 320

Monkey and crocodile, 381 ; and
Prince, 278 ; and weaver-bird,
247 ; brown, 5, 278 ; grey, 3,
247 ; induces King to marry
daughter to Prince, 281 ; skin
dress, 310, 311

Moon as a man, legend, 52 ; travels
in breezes, 53

Mouse, dead, fortune from, 197 ;
jacket, 310

Mouse maiden, cooks food, 309 ; in
incense box, 308 ; reaps paddy,
309; becomes Princess, 310

Mouse-deer, 4, 35 ; and leopard,
213 ; and tiger, 340 ; and tom-
tom beaters, 256

Miiller-Hess, Prof., inscriptions
translated, 38

Mu^, a small pulse grown in chenas,
3, 295, 296

Mun-aeta Guruwa, 169 ; re-bom as
Yaka, 170, 172

Murders, frequent and unpunished,
36

Murunga tree, 79, 88, 123, 124,
126, 323, 328

INDEX

391

Mnsical instruments, 238

Naekata, 173, 323, 324
Naga or Nagaya, 157 ; takes form
of cobra, 158 ; belt, 158 ; King,
267, 269 ; killed by Prince, 267 ;
Princesses, 267 ; beheaded, 268 ;
marry Princes, 268 ; three were
a golden tree, silver flower, and
silver cock, 268 ; stone, its
qualities, 269
Nagul-Munna, 169
Nari-nayide, 230, 23i,'239, 316, 340
NayidS, artificers' caste, 28
New Year, 22 ; ceremonies at lucky

hours, 22
Nikini, story, 284 ; non-existent,

285 ; search for it, 286
Ni^^anka-Malla, K., 37, 43
North, inhabited by demons, 13
Number of stars, 150, 153, 154

Oath, 158, 195 ; by touching body,

93. 293. 298

Obeisance, claims to, by Brahmanas,
263 ; men, 263 ; tom-tom beaters,
262

Obstacles created, three, 68, 70 ;
four, 71

Odra State, 40

Offering, human, to cobra guarding
pool, 58 ; to Yaka, 147

Office through eating bird, 90, 91

Ogre = Rakshasa, 34 ; character-
istics, 14s ; seizes King, 145

Oil-mill gives birth to horse, 229,

233
Olinda game at New Year, 22
Omens, 14, 15, 260
Owl, call thought to be cry of

demons, 13

Paddy, legend of, as woman, 52 ;

cooked in hell, 53
Pandit and demon, 215 ; wise, 199
Paramour, 73, 157, 221, 287, 289
Parrot, 14, 121-127 ; as Prince,

66 ; gives warning, 97, 122, 124,

126
Parrots, 14 ; and Kinnara, 224 fi. ;

when netted escape by feigning

death, 225, 227

Parumaka, early Chief, termed
King in folk-tales, 34

Pataliputta, capital of Hagadha, 39

Panams, gold, 259

Path blocked by Yak5, 16, 146

Peacock, golden, 70, 71 ; warns
girl, 300

PeUcan and crab, 345

Pence, 262, 263, 304

Peraeli-basa, j68

Pereda, 75

Pied Robin and its song, 206

Pigs saved by Prince assist him,-
295 ; count themselves, 259 ;
kill Rakshasa, 370, 371

Pious cat, 349-354 ; crow, 354 ;
heron, 342 ; jackal, 354

Planets, influence of, 18

Poison by powdered glass, antidote,
300

Polyandry, 36, 115

Polygamy, 36, 64, 145, 176, 177,
186, 262, 272

Pond heron, 7 ; and crab, 342-345

Pool guarded by cobra, 58

Portents, 16 : — Favourable words,
14 ; house lizard's chirp, 14 ; no
obstruction on leaving house or
starting on journey, 14, 15 ;
seeing first a person of superior
rank, 14 ; stepping over thres-
hold with right foot, 14 ; wood-
pecker's cry, 19

Portrait displayed, 99 ; sent for
approval before marriage, 57, 66

Possession, 181, 182, 184 ; sooth-
sa3ring due to goading by deity,
289

Pots, cooking, stand for, 10, 338 ;
of oil, story, 304

Potters' caste, 28

Poya day, 14

Preceptor, leopard's, 213 ; royal,-

151

Presents, magical, 68, 71 ; byKing^
99. 133. 365. 366

Proud jackal, 316

Prince abandons kingdom for wife,
93 ; accompanied by animals,
277, 297-299, 300, 301 ; and
monkey, 278 S. ; and Yaka,
1 37 fi. ; assisted by animals ; —

392

INDEX

Ants, 301 ; bear, 299 ; crickets,
300, 301 ; Demon Hound, 299 ;
elephants, 295 ; -fire-flies, 296 ;
frogs, 301 ; kitten, 301 ; pigs,
295 ; rats, 61 ; Rukh, 293, 299 ;
snake, 301 ; turtle doves, 296 ;
Yaka, 142, 144 ; as frog, 67 ; as
parrot, 66 ; as tortoise or turtle,
71 ; at nest of Aet-kanda Leniya
or Rukh, 292, 296 ; at Rak-
shasi's house, 69 ; at school, 93,
160 ; beheads three Naga Prin-
cesses at one stroke, 268 ; brings
wonderful articles, 276, 277, 301 ;
buys animals, 278, 301 ; carried
by Rukh, 293, 300 ; changed
into birds, 276 ; chased by
Rakshasas, 70, 71 ; chops fire-
wood, 26s ; fights Rakshasa,
163 ; hidden in trunk, 69 ; hides
robes of Princess, 291, 301 ;
imprisoned by cobra, 59 ; Mlled
by potter, 194 ; kills cobra, 292,
300 ; kills lizard in place of
brother, j6i ; kills Naga King,
267 ; kills ogre, 90 ; kills Yaka,
143, 26s, 274 ; life in necklace,
166 ; in sword, 164-167 ; lives
with flower woman, 79, 87 ; made
horsekeeper, 139; made shep-
herd, 141 ; made slave, 84 ;
marries courtesan, 175 ; marries
mouseling, 308 ; marries Naga
Princess, 268 ; marries Yaksani,
176 ; saved by sun-dried fish,
87 ; saves Aet-kanda Leniya's
young ones, 293 ; ant, 301 ;
cricket, 300, 301 ; eagles, 300 ;
elephants, 294 ; fire-flies, 294 ;
frog, 301 ; giants, 162 ; monkey,
278 ; pigs, 294 ; turtle doves,
294 ; seeks meaning of dream,
265 ; selects Princess in dark
room, 296 ; sent by Rak-
shasi, 274, 276, 277 ; maims
Yaksani and is served by her,
189 ; sentenced to death, 36, 66,
80, 91, 137, 160, 173, 278, 279,
291 ; tasks given, 66, 274, 276,
^77 < 29s, 296 ; thrown over-
board, 87, 91 ; binds Rakshasi's
daughter, 69 ; visits Princess at

night, 62, 66 ; visits Indraloka,
301 ; Nagalpka, 267

Princess alters letter, 195, 275, 276 ;
at Rakshasa's house, 270 ;
bathed after puberty, 294 ;
bathes in river, 84, 138, 291 ;
becomes mare, 64 ; becomes
mouseUng, 308 ; carves figure, 98 ;
cures cobra, 64 ; encloses letter
in orange, 95 ; escapes from
captors or death, 95, 96, 99, 270,
271 ; faithless, 157 ; flying powers,
59, 64 ; learns writing, 93 ; magic
gifts to Prince, 63 ; made from
Prince's body, 157, 159; made
King, 99 ; made school teacher,
97 ; marries slave, 85 ; ofiered
to Yaka, 141, 143 ; personates
Brahma^a, 96 ; pricks finger
to keep awake, 63, 66 ; recog-
nises Prince's ring, 295 ; robes
hidden, 291, 301 ; selected by
Prince in dark room, 296 ; sews
jacket, 94 ; sold, 36, 91, 94 ;
wears blue robe, 271

Princesses, Naga, 267 ; marry
Princes, 268

Princesses, seven, 270, 281 ; escape
from Rakshasa, 271 ; marry
King, 272

Puberty custom, 294

Punci - Amma, step - mother, 89 ;
mother's younger sister, 296

Pupolra State, 40

Purohita Brahma^a, 151

Python seizes boy, 373

Queen becomes cobra, 132 ; sells

firewood, 65, 66
Queens eat children, 187, 272, 276,

277 ; eyes plucked out, 187, 272,

276, 277 ; twelve, 186
Quail and its egg, 201
Quartering and hanging at city

gates, 86, 89
Questions, two, 1 54 ; three, 1 50,

iSS ; four, 153

Race : — Brer Rabbit and Brei
Tarrypin, 244 ; crane and butter-
fly, 244 ; crane and crab, 244 ;

INDEX

393

Garuda and turtle, 244 ; lion and
turtle, 242, 244

Rahami, 327, 328

Rahu, Asura Chief, assists in Crea-
tion, 47 ; his divine form, 50 ;
planetary sign, 49

Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, 39

Raja Gurunnanse, 151

Rakshasa = ogre, 34 ; afraid of
fire, 70, 71 ; and boars, 370 ;
at girl's door, 122-126, 128 ;
cannot straighten hair, 377 ;
creates mouth at crown of head,
303; death by drinking, 124;
death in fire, 290 ; eats daughter,
271 ; eats girl's figure, 303 ;
gives mango for child, 302 ; head
split, 303 ; imprisons girl in tree,
269 ; killed by boars, 370 ;
killed by thorn in head, 163 ;
King, 66, 71 ; life in bees, birds,
etc., 166, 167 ; man.'s servant,
376; marries woman, 290 ; mode
of approach, 163

Rakshasi, 67 ; assists Prince, 163 ;
imprisons giants, 161, 162 ;
smells Prince, 69 ; burnt, 70, 71

Ran oncillawa, golden swing, 129

Rasaya, Rasi = Rakshasa (m. and

f.). 34, 67

Ratemahatmayas, principal dis-
trict chiefs, 27 ; , beheaded, 151

Ratewissa, 327

Rat and cat, 351-353 ; assists
gambler, 177 ; eggs, 252 ; male
about to bear young, 233

Rats come when thought of, 60, 61 ;
excavate tunnel, 61, 177 ; saved
from drowning, 59 ; save ele-
phant, 66

Reaping chena, 19 ; rice, 20

Rewards given by Kings, 67, 90,
185, 266, 267, 315

Rice cultivation, 17 ; eating, 12,
86; field, i, 6; magic, 276,
277 ; night growing, 276 ;
originally huskless, 51 ; thresh-
ing, 20 ; strung on date spike
transforms frog, 67, 70

Riddle, 158, 215

Ring cools boiling water, 63 ;
jewelled, 143, 295

Road tax, 21

Robin, pied, 206

Rodiya, 29, 30, 372 ; stories by,
364; term of reproach, 73, 74

Roll of cotton, 364

Rosary, 349, 350

Rukh, 291-300 = Aet-kanda
Leniya or Lihiniya, 291 ;; Bha-
runda bird, 300 ; Bihangama,
300; Garuda, 251, 300; Imgig,
300 ; ZQ, 300 ; assists Prince,
293, 299 ; breeds in Ceylon, 251,
292, 296, 300 ; carries off ele-
phants, 293 ; man rides on one,
251 ; Sumerian idea, 300

Rupee, 181, 304, 313

Sack, man tied in, 104, 106, 1 10

Saestara, 179

Sahadeo, father of Siva, 56, 251

Sahasa-Malla, K., 38

Sakra appears as man, 51, 157 ;

created Princess, out of Prince's

body, 157
Sale of children, 36, 94
Salliya, 85, 87, 139
Samadama, 98
Saman, God, 47, 48, 50, 223
Sand of sea. King's journey for,

285 ; used in creation of earth,

48
Sangha-raja, 153, 154
Sannyasi changes letter, 276 ;

seizes Yaka, 171
Sapu - flowers' Minister = leopard,

367
Scarecrow, 230

Scavengers cheated by jackal, 251
School, 93, 96-99 ; 160
Sea, depth of, 1 54 ; on fire, 233
Seed collected after sowing, 296,

300, 301
Self-acting bill-hook, 337 ; sickle,

338
Senasura, deity, appears as old

man, 55 ; assists worshipper, 56 ;

his evil influence, 54 ; gives book,

56 ; legend of, 54
SettiyS or Hettiya, 30 ; 82 fi., 1 39 ff.,

287, 288
Seven baskets, 122 ; baths, 300 ;

brothers marry seven sisters,

394

INDEX

100 ; bundles of firewood, 122 ;
days, 48, 91, 308 ; doors, 128 ;
family of, marry seven, 107 ;
gawwas, S3 ; houses, 83 ; jars of
milk, 300 ; pots of water, 100,
122, 125, 300 ; mats, 100 ;
nights, 66 ; quarts of money,
104; Princes, 57; Princesses,
57, 84, 270, 281 ; Rakshasa girls,
271 ; robbers, 317 ; seas, 71 ;
trees planted, 334 ; trunks, 69 ;
Vaeddas, 96, 98 ; weavers, 259 ;
years, 81, 89

Shed, road-side, for travellers {am-
balama), 9, 61, 62, 63, 64, 94, 95,
138, 278, 279, 312

Shops, road-side, 21, 85, 209

Sickle gets fever, 338

Sigiris Siflfio, the giant, 312, 313 ;
kills twenty flies, 312 ; victor over
giant and made Prime Minister,

314. 31S
Siha-Bahu, K., 41
SiUu, Hopscotch, 193, 194
Silver cock, flower, and tree, 264,

268, 269
Sil rakinawa, 349, 354
Sinhapura or Sihapura, 37-43
Sister kills sister, 1 14
Siva cheated by jackal, 56, 251, 381
Sivalinga, God, 287-289
Skin dresses : — Dove, jackal, mon-
key, mouse, tortoise-shell, woman,
310, 311
Sky, near house-tops, 50
Sleeping, lying east and west, 13
Slaves branded when freed, 177 ;
hair-knot cut, 84 ; losing gam-
blers enslaved, 174, 175, 177, 178
Small Lion, title of jackal, 316
Smith makes bow and arrows, 273
Smiths' caste, 27, 28
Snake and man, 341 ; assists
Prince, 301 ; bite cured by snake,
91 ; by spell, 301 ; brought by
cowry, 91 ; cakes made of eggs
turn Queen into cobra, 132 ;
charms against its poison, 25 ;
killed, or cut in two, 133, 158,
267, 292 ; poison brought, 301 ;
poisonous, bites charmer, 24
Soothsajfing, 180 ff., 289

South, abode of Yama, 13
Sovereignty through eating bird,
cock, fruit, maina, mango, shel-
drake, 90, 91 ; turtle dove, 80, 89
Speaking horse, 199
Spell, against Yaka, 146, 147, 171 ;
broken by conversation, 19 ;
cures snake-bite, 301 ; revives
corpse, 378, 379
Spring dried by magic, 91, 92
Squirrel, small, its cry, 352
Stars, number of, 150, 153, 154;

search for, 284
States of Lower Ganges, 39
Statue displayed as bait, 98
Step-mother, cruel, 79,90, 91, 130,

IJ2

Sticks thrown into river, 108, 319

Stone, magic, 68, 70

Storks, 7 ; and turtle, 234, 239

Stupid boy, 108, 319

Stories brought from India, 38, 1.76

Story told in sections, 88, 91

Strangers give name for child, 303 ;

names taken by guards, 139
Subha, K., 153
Subhadra, Q., 37
Suitor's tasks, 60, 295 ; three, 378,

379
Sumitta, K., 41

Sun legend, as man, 52 ; orbit, 53
Sunga, son of Vali, 40
Swarnamiila mountain, breeding

place of Rukhs, 300
Swing, golden, 129
Sword contains life of Prince, 164-

167 ; marriage to, 58, 65 ; of

state, 152

Tales accord with village experi-
ence or traditions, 36 ; some
brought by later immigrants, 37

Talla, reservoir, 298

Tamalitta, Gangetic State and
port, 40, 42

Tamarind Tikka, 100 ; carries food
under finger-nail, 10 1 ; drowns
uncles, los ; hung under bridge,
104 ; sets up corpse in garden,
103 ; revives dead buffalo, 102

Tambi, Muhammedan trader or
pedlar, no, 221

INDEX

395

Tamil King, 313-315

Tank, village, 4; turtles, 6, 115.
234 ff., 241 fi.

Tasks given : — One, 189, 274, 276,
277 ; two, 60, 63, 125, 301 ; three,
66, 105, 122 ; four, 295-298, 301 ;
bathing in boiling water, 60, 63 ;
bringing firewood, 122 ; milk of
bear, crocodile, Demon Hound,
Rukh, 296-298 ; carrying water,
122, 125 ; cutting gem, 140 ;
cutting iron tree, 60, 63, 66 ;
pounding paddy, 122, 125 ; solv-
ing riddle, 158

Tax, road, 21

Terms of relationship are concilia-
tory and honorific, 21, .68, 69, 80,
83, 8s, 174, 276, 277, 298, 364

Thorn or pin, magic, 68-71 ; effect
of, 168, 376 ; kills Rakshasa, 163

Thousand articles, 281, 282 ; masu-
ran, 191-193, 278, 279 ; Buddhas
232, 241

Thread, charmed, 1 5 ; standing at,
268

Three questions, 1 50 ; suitors, 378,
379

Thieves, two : — Clothes and horse
borrowed, 331 ; purse stolen
and replaced, 330 ; wife of, 333

Threshing floor, 20, 120 ; rice, mode
of, 20

Tiger and farmer's wife, 215 ; and
goat, 215 ; and lynx, 215 ; and
man, 340, 341 ; and mouse-deer,
340 ; and two brothers, 215

Timber for house building, 323, 328

Tokkama, 350 ; Tokka or Tokkan
the devil-dancer=hare, 349, 351

Tom-tom beaters and bull, 254 ;
and bush, 257 ; and dream, 260 ;
and hares, 255 ; and mouse-deer,
256 ; caste, 28 ; cheated by
jackal, 249 ; children unrecog-
nised, 253, 254 ; crying, 260, 261 ;
counting themselves, 258 ; fool-
ishness of, 252 ; four, story of,
262 ; journey to Puttalam, 253 ;
stories of, 109, 252 ; throw man
into river, lii

Tom-toms, say words, 29, 238, 303 ;
verse on, 238

Tortoise Prince, 71 ; shell dress,

71. 311
Transformation : — Frog into Prince

67, 70 ; parrot into Prince, 66 ;

Prince into birds, 276 ; Queen

into cobra, 132
Transmission of tales from India,

38, 176
Travellers' shed (ambalama) on

road-side, 8, 61-64, 94, 95, 138,

278, 279, 312
Treasure of cobra, 64 ; seekers

killed, 105, 106, III
Tree, buttresses, 5 ; girl as, 269 ;

golden, 264 ; Naga Princesses,

268 ; silver, 269 ; speaking, 117,

123, 124, 126, 340, 341
Trickery approved, 36
Trikalinga, 40
Trumpets, 238

Tummal KittI, jungle hen, 349
Tun-iri Mudiyanse, small squirrel,

351
Tunnel dug, by pigs, 370, 371 ; dug

by rats, 61, 62, 177 ; thief, 66
Turtle, tank, 6, 113 fi.; and jackal,

234; and lion, 241 ; carried by

geese, 240 ; by hansas, 239, 240 ;

by black storks, 234, 239, 240 ;

cheats Brer Rabbit, 244 ; Garuda,

244 ; jackal, 235 fi. ; lion, 242-

244
Turtle dove, 79 ; magic, efiect of

eating, 80, 89 ; Prince assisted

by, 296
Tusk-elephant mountain, 291
Tuttuwa, 73, 74, 304, 306

Udayagiri, mountain of Dawn, 71
Unlucky days, 18
Unnanse namak, 320
Untruthfulness, 36
Upasaka, 350, 354

Vaedda, 202-204 '• complains to
King, 188 ; K. imprisons trav-
ellers, 34, 64, 65 ; in folk-tales,
34 ; seven shoot for Princess,
96, 98 ; shoots magic turtle-
dove, 80, 81 ; visits city, 273 ;
wedding custom, 240; stories, 224

Vali, K., and his five sons, 40

396

INDEX

Vanaspati rice, 277

Vanga, Gangetic kingdom, 40

Vedarala or Veda, demon expeller,
147, 171 ; medical man, 336,
338 ; soothsayer, 179-185

Vessels, Gangetic, their voyages, 42,
43

Vibhisana, K. in Ceylon, 251

Victim's escape, enemies take his
place, 105, 106, no, 112

Village, Kandian, 6 ; dress, 8, 103 ;
garden, 11 ; life, 21, 35 ; new-
year's re-union, 21 ; path, 2 ;
tank, 4 ; women, 8

Vishnu, 227 ; boar incarnation, 50 ;
creation of earth and man, 47-50

Wager for life, 158

Wand, magic white, revives dead

buffalo, 102
Waragan, 182
Warnings by animals, etc., 14, 15,

19, 97. 122-124, 126, 297-299,

300, 356
Washerman, caste, 28 ; and boy,

320, 321 ; and jackal, 212 ; and

Gamarala, 322, 325 ; their cattle,

323, 325, 326 ; chena, 322 ;

house building, 323, 324, 328,
, 329 ; onion garden, 323 ; rice

field, 323 ; lawsuits, 322, 327
Watch hut in chena, 2, 72, 73, 169,

170
Water not drunk while eating, 12
Waterpot, foreign, 306
Weaver-bird and monkey, 247
Weavers count themselves, 259 ;

foolishness of, 252 ; hero killed

a mosquito, 315 ; nine flies, 315
Whale's fat brought, 301
Wife exchanged for bullock, 36,

337 ; taken by king, 94, 186
Wimali, 302 ; reared by Rakshasa,

303
Wijaya, K., 38-41, 167 ; his exile

doubtful, 41 ; his voyage to

Ceylon, 42 ; saves followers from

Kuweni, 167, 168
Woodpecker's cry, 3 ; an omen, 19
Woman, body gilded (?), 290 ;

dead, becomes white turtle, 115;

mango tree, 116; kaekiri, 117;

blue lotus, n8 ; revived by spell,

378, 379 ; made by first man, 49 ;

made from man's body, 157, 159;

marries Rakshasa, 290 ; old,

rejuvenated by beating, 109-1 1 1 ;

skin dress, 310, 311
Work, all, begun at lucky hour, 18,

22
Worship of Gods for a child, 336
Writing style, 93

Yabbaelli, f. Demon Hound, 297
Yama, God of Death, in south, 1 3
Yaka, afraid of man, 148, 149 ; and
Damunu pole, 375 ; and monk,
375 ; assists Prince, 142, 144 ;
blinds man, 146 ; blocks path,
16, 146 ; imprisoned in bottle,
33 ; in iron house, 137 ; killed
by Prince, 143,265, 274; kills
calf and men, 170, 171 ; lives in
tree, 148 ; magic nail in head,
376; man-eating, 137, 141-143,
145, 265 ; man re-born as, 170,
172 ; mode of approach, 142, 265,
266 ; offerings, 147, 170 ; power
of incantations over, 171 ; pos-
sesses man, 147 ; provides man
with food, 148, 149 ; seizes King,
141 ; seizes man, 146 ; shot, 146 ;
underground palace, 141 ; a
demon or evil spirit, 34, 137 ;
works, 375
Yako, a form of address, 287
Yaksani, female Yaka, built palace,

189 ; chased man or Prince, 186,

190 ; ate corpse, 189, 190 ; made
Queen, 186; served Prince, 189

Yaksa Vedarala, practitioner

against demons, 147, 171
Yasalalaka-Tissa, K., deposition,

153
Youth accompanied by young

animals, 297-300 ; cheats monk,

320 ; tom-tom beaters, 109-1 1 1 ;

washerman, 321 ; four tasks

given, 296-298
Youth, foolish, and gruel, 320 ; and

monk, 320 ; bums house, 108 ;

kills fly on mother's head, 319 ;

throws sticks into river, 108, 319
Yugas, four, 49

Butler & Tanner The Selwood Printing Works Frame and Ixindon

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